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THE INDUSTRY IN PROFILE
The Three Caesars 18 Canada's Eurocom Sees Success'
By Jeff Evans ln Notebook Nictie-.i],!!^’^
SyMicMeMcletui.'
EYE ON THE INDUSTRY "■
£-Commerce VAR Is A New 8r^ed Of Resellers .22 ' NEWS
By David Tanaka i
NOTEBOOK COMPUTERS By Michele McLew
Big & Small Notebogk Market :
Is Active In 1998 24 BOOK REVIEW
By Jeff Evans
K Creative Collaboration
* Or.MskingJheWhoi"
Jhe Sum Of Its Paris
By Paul Lima
^BUSINESS BASICS
'Show Me The Money!
' The Dynamics
Financing 54
E-mail Management, Security Is Ciociaf^^7^^^^“**“
" ■"' ■ WOBKIWqjHEMffB
LAB TEST - - -
High-End Systems
_lY
f And ^ftware
! DEpTmm^n
1
The Editor's Desk
6
Letters to the Editor
8
Industry Flash
10
Canada Watch
14
. Asiascape
50
New Products
58
Calendar
61
People
61
Nifty Numbers
62
ir
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EDITOR'S DESK
No Holds Barred!
1998 is shaping up to be
super-uclive, and this
issue of Canadian
Computer Wholesaler is
no exception.
We’ve got acquisi-
tions, changing corporate strategies, new
presidents, old presidents (Compaq,
Merisel, page 6 1 ) and best of all — signif-
icant technological advancements. Our
cover story this issue, ("High Performance
RedefmedP' page 38>, comes direct from
our Toronto Lab Tests under the direction
of Lab Test Editor Steve Haiinda, where
they put the very latest generation of high-
powered PCs through their (speedy!)
paces. Many of those machines ran on
Intel's latest 333MHz Pentium Pro proces-
sor — arriving in systems near you, ready
to crunch through graphics and compute-
heavy graphics applications.
If your customers are willing to pay
for the privilege of power-packed process-
ing — they can see significant processing
gains in video imaging, interactive DVD
and serious gaming, for example.
Compaq gets serious
Tbpping the industry news this month was
of course Compaq Computer Corp.’s
announcement of an US$9.6 billion acquisi-
tion of Digital Equipment Corp., creating
the second largest computing company, sec-
ond only to IBM Corp. This is yet another
example of the consolidation trend in this
industry: and gives a significant boost to the
Winlei platform, further su-engthening the
power of the Microsoft-Iniel-Compaq tri-
umvirate. Associate Editor Jeff Evans
examines the history, relationship and
power of these giants, in “The Three
Caesars," page 18. Sheer momentum, size,
and the apparent warmth between these
players bodes for a strong working relation-
ship for some time to come.
Micro.sofi and Digital themselves
have played very nicely together under the
banner of their Alliance For Enterprise
Computing (AEC), which was just intensi-
fied by the launch of AEC li. (Please see
“Digital And hficrosqft Reaffirm Enterprise
Alliance." page 18.)
While Digital is a significant player in
both notebook computers and desktop.s —
(and don’t forget the massive Kanata, Ont.
manufacturing facility); that wasn’t the real
appeal of the acquisition for Compaq.
Rather. Digital’s penetration into high-end
corporate computing markets and the com-
pany's impressive service organization are
exactly what Compaq needs to be taken
seriously at its quest to dominate the spcc-
1mm of computing, and to compete on an
enterprise level with IBM. Combine the
corporate strength of Digital with last sum-
mer’s acquisition of Tandem Computers
Inc., and the intended message is clear:
Compaq is a serious computing company
for serious business.
Netscape browsers anyone?
Also significant this issue, is Netscape
Communications’ announcement that it is
providing its Netscape Communicator 4.04
browser free to the market-place. (I down-
loaded it myself, and can attest that it has
significantly more features, and alas, more
crashes than Netscape Navigator 3.)
The move is widely held to be a
response to the eroding of Netscape's
browser market-share, as Microsoft Corp.
has been providing Internet Explorer free
of charge.
Yet, NeLscape is still the darling of the
Internet community, endeared by its lough
little guy aidtude, not to mention the per-
ceived class of porting its browser to 17 dif-
ferent computing platforms, including ihc
much-loved (among Netizens) Linux. More
noteworthy yet, Netscape i.s making the
source code for Netscape 5.0 available to
developers, a move that is expected to boost
third-party development for the browser.
Meanwhile, the company is signing up
OEMs to distribute the brow.ser with their
systems. (Please see “Netscape signs 3,000-
plus OEMs...," page II.) Jonathan Tice, the
new director of marketing for Netscape
Communications Canada Inc. in Tbfonio said
there’s “a real opportunity” for Canadian
ISPs and system manufacturers to get
involved in the distribution of the browser.
One can only hope that Netscape con-
tinues to have the drive and resources to
continue to develop and push the envelope
on Internet browsers, as competition is by
far the best nteans of ensuring advancement.
What do you think? Has Netscape
made the right move with this announce-
ment? How do you feel about Compaq
buying Digital? Drop me a line at
gracec@neicom.ca.
Of course, it’s only March. Fasten
your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen: some-
thing tells me we’re in for quite a ride... H*'
Grace Casselinan
Editor
It Camiyiter
lesaier
Putilisliei
Associate Publishers
Editor
Associate EdNor
Lab Tost
Contributing Writers
David Riltcr
Judy Prange
Hari Singh Khalsa
Grace Casselman
(gracec@nelci)m.ca)
icIT Evans
(jeff@lcpon.com)
Steve Haiinda
(.sleve@lcpon.com)
Graeme Bennett
.Sean Carrulhers
Douglas Gray
Stephen Ibaniki
Paul Lima
Michele McLean
David Tanaka
Paul Weinberg
Geof Wheelwright
Production Staff Sherly Ho
Karin Hartwig
Jana Kolar
Sales Manager Jamie Leighton
(jamie@lcp.ca)
Key Account Manager {EastI Tino Wong
Account Managers Frank Hoavlun
(frdnk@lcpon,com)
Account Managers Weng Ng
(weng@lcpon.cnm)
Conirnller Linda Lovegrove
Accounting Farida Aini
Circulation Scort Rice
Kim Jewison
Founders Kent Liqin Chen
Li Ding
Canadian Computer Wholesaler
is published 12 times a year hy
Canada Computer Paper Inc.
Toronto Office
Toroolo, OiiL Canaila M6K .1J8
•M;(4I6) 555-M04
Fnx:(4l6)3X8-8.S74
Vancouver Office
Suiie 503-425 CamUl Si.
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I973223IW
6 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998 nrtp/Avmv.c
THE POWER OF VISION
DIAMONOser/es
NEW CSA APPROVED SERIES
W/NON FLAMMABLE PANEL
LETTERS
Satellite more attractive than cable
Most computer customers express interest in
csbie modems, but many also have cable TV
access and realize ^atthe cable companies have
s poor record for delivering clear TV signals, or
even delivering service without interruption. Many
customers already are fed up with cable and have
purchased satellite dishes for TV.
Direct satellite Internet access — imagine
the bandwidth — sounds like the future to me.
Glen Ross, owner
Brick Technologies, Toronto
bhcktech^printca
Cable not yot cost-effective
In my local aree of rural Nova Scotia...! have
explained to my customers that the extra expense
of purchasing an Ethernet card and the (cable
modem) Internet service — coupled with the fact
that the speed is ve^ compatible with POTS-based
modems — offers little advantage at this time.
Modems come pre-installed on most systems
nowadays. On average it costs approximately
$54.66 for cable-based Internet per month, tax
included and this does not Include the cost of the
card itself, as opposed to a basic telephone
line being $24.04 and the Internet service
costing $26.95 tax included.
A greater savings could be
obtained if (the customer)
intends to use the same
telephone line as they have in their homes now. So
buyer beware, source before you spend.
Neil L Rideout
director of research and development
SofOvare Engineering Research Company of
America, New Waterford, N.S.
nrideout@atcon.com
Mai^ factors cnicial for aotebooks
This is a very tough question that you asked this
month. (Reader Poll, page 62). From personal expe-
rience, I look for all of these options.
I want processing power because when
you're spending a large amount of money you don't
want to have to replace (the notebook) every year.
Screen size end quality Is a definite concern
becauseif I'm going to be using the computers fair
amount I don't want to be getting severe eyestrain
from viewing something that is difficult to read.
You don'twantto be carrying something around for
hours on end that weighs a lot especially if you
have to carry a bhefcase also.
Battery life is a concern for users who will be
using their computers a fair bit where AC outlets
are not readily accessible. You don't want to be
switching batteries every hour or two because of a
short life battery.
Shawn Stemmier, president
Stemmier Computer, Brantford, Ont.
shann.stemmler@computer4u.com
CCW BULLETIN BOARD
Looking for a product service or partner?
Write to CCW Bulletin Board at
E-mail: ccw@tcp.ca
fax: (403) 262-7892.
Lattars To The EdHor
We welcome your letters on industry issues
and concerns, as well as your comments on
our magazine.
We reserve the right to edit your contri-
butions for length and clarity.
Please write to The Editor at
E-mail: ccw@tcp.ca
fax: (403) 262-7892.
Unit 8-3571 Viking Wavi Richmond, BC.
Canada, V6V 1W1
Tel: (604) 273-4660 Fax: (604) 273-7989
1.800-665-1858
8 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998
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«| &PLAY
NDUSTRY FLASH
JNDUSTRY FLASH!
Cl4rlt will rcor^anli* company a< FileMaker Inc.
Apple Computer Inc. has announced its Claris subsidiary will restructure to locus exclusively
on FileMaker Pro line of database software.
This restructuring will include changing the compiiny name to FileMaker Inc., the divesting
of products other than the FileMaker Pro line, and laying-olF approximately 300 Claris employees.
Beginning Feb. I, Apple will distribute all Apple-branded software. In addition. Apple will
develop, distribute and support the ClarisWorks integrated productivity softwiue.
’^eckard baatt Sun In worldwide workitatlon talcs
Hcwlc::
On Jan. 29. Hewlett-Packard gleefully
announced iLs claim that after little more than
a year of full-scale marketing of Windows
NT-based workstations, HP's combined NT
and Unix workstation sales had surpassed
those of all other workstation vendors, includ-
ing the traditional market leader. Sun
Microsystems.
According to International Data Corp.
(IDC) figures. HP sold more than 330,01X1
workstations, compared to Sun's 285,000
units. According to Dave McDonnell of HP
(Canada) Ltd., the improved sales of HP’s
workstations are directly attributable to a
strategy that HP has pursued for more than
two years; to push the performance of its
workstations by quantum leaps every six
months or so. In independent benchmark
tests, the latest HP workstations provide
markedly heller price/perfomiance than com-
peting Sun, Silicon Graphics or IBM worksia-
In a demonstration in CCWIv Toronto
ofTice. HP showed the 3D muscle of its new
Kayak PC NT workstation, using a Visualize
fx4 graphics subsystem for real-time 3D per-
formance.
HP's success is bad news for Sun.
which despite an excellent reputation for
quality and a large cnicrprisc customer base,
.suffered a three per cent decline in units sold
in 1997. That, along with the minimal suc-
cess of the Java initiative, and Sun's dogged-
ly anli- Windows strategy, is causing increa.s-
ing concern about the wisdom of its current
direction.
MotorolA and Chromatk
lUtcarch »n planning 5dK/DVO
(NB) — Motorola Inc. and Chromatic Research
are unveiling plans to jointly develop a single-
chip offering combining .‘'6Kbps modem and
DVD technology, aiming for stalc-of-thc-arl
multimedia home PC.s, priced at under
US$ I .(XK). by the end of ihi.s year.
Motorola’s Mike Tramaniano and
Chromatics' Dave Well said the deal is slated
to result in shipment of multifunctional multi-
media modem chips integrating Motorola's
implementation of K56flex technology to
OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) by
early in the second quarter of this year.
The first version of the chip will be fully
upgradeable to V.pcm. with OEMs deciding
individually whelher to provide the software
upgrade as download.s or by tnher means.
i£EN\
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10 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 199S
NDUSTRY FLASH
Standard for 56Kbpt modem technology It fln.nL
(NB) — The International Telecomiminications
Union (ITU) has approved a preliminary stan-
dard for 56Kbps modems, according to
3Com. 3Com developed the x2 56Kbps tech-
nology, which directly competed with and
could not communicate with the K56flcx
technology developed by Lucent Tech-
nologies and Rockwell International.
The standard was approved at an ITU
conference in Geneva, Switzerland, officials
said. The new ITU standard will be assigned a
new V-series number. It was previously called
“V.pcm” for "pulse code modulation.”
ITU's next step for the new 56Kbps stan-
dard is to formally ratify it at another meeting
this September. But the final vote is usually
just a formality.
lUy
Manufacturers of modems that have used
the 3Com x2 and the Lucenl/Rockwell K56flex
technologies have promised software upgrades
to the new standard. That same pledge has been
made to ISPs and others who have also used the
older proprietary 56Kbps technologies, and will
use the new standard. Previously, x2 modems
could not "talk" with modems equipped with
K56flex at 56Kbps-class speeds.
In January, 3Com and Lucent Tech-
nologies said they would begin testing their
respective 56Kbp.s modems to make sure they
communicate with each another when using
the new standard. New modem products
based on the draft standard should be avail-
able from both companies within a few
months, officials said.
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EpoK Int
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Impaq Technology Inc.
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Micro Star
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1604)214-3828
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QDI Computer (Canada)
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Resonant Consulting Inc.
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Samsung
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Sceptre Technologies Inc.
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TKP Electronic (Canada)
(604) 279-0320
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ED
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ED
Netscape signs 3,000-plus OEMs
(NB) — Just two weeks after announcing it
would essentially give away its World Wide
Web browser, Netscape Communications
said it had signed more than 3,000 original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs), Internet
service providers (ISPs), and other partners
to distribute Netscape Communicator and
Navigator.
Netscape's “Unlimited Distribution”
program promises to distribute more than 36
million copies of its Communicator and
Navigator programs with "no strings
attached,” Netscape official.s said.
Netscape announced the program in
January, after it saw Microsoft make signifi-
cant gains in the Web browser market — a
market Netscape essentially created when it
began giving away copies of its Navigator
browser three years ago.
for free browter
Netscape'.s share of the market has gone
from virtual dominance to 60 per cent —
according to Microsoft.
Netscape’s new plan allows ISPs,
OEMs and telecommunications companies
to freely distribute both the standard edition
of Communicator and the Navigator Web
browser. Netscape's Navigator stands alone,
while Communicator integrates Navigator
with me,ssaging. E-mail and other products.
Netscape also announced a new pro-
gram to provide developers with the basic
software code to a next-generation
Communicator 5.0. With the "source code”
in hand, developers will more rapidly bring
new Internet applications, applets and fea-
tures to the Web for everyday users and cus-
tom corporate environments, Netscape
expects.
srrp>Avmv.ccMmag.i;
March 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 11
INDUSTRY FLASH
Symantec denies CyberMedia allegations
(NB) — Within hours of being notified of a lawsuit filed against it by
CyberMedia Inc., Symantec Corp. issued a formal denial of any
wrongdoing.
Gordon Eubanks. Symantec's president and chief executive offi-
cer (CEO), said; "If you take tbe big picture, what we know now and
what's true is that the product was written by an independent company.
Zebrasoft. and we licensed it from them,” the executive explained.
“We're indemnified in that licence."
“We've received a copy of their suit and we're analyzing it. look-
ing at each of their claims.” Eubanks continued. "We take matters like
this very .seriously and we have a lot of people working late right now.
looking at everything about this.”
The pnxJuct at issue is Symantec's Norton Uninstaller Deluxe, a
utility that monitors program installations and remove,s them later with
no unneeded files left behind. It also performs other hard drive “house-
keeping" chores. In the lawsuit. CyberMedia alleges the Symantec
product conlains program code on which Cybermedia owns ihe copy-
right. CyberMedia also named Atlanta-based Zebrasoft as the original
developer of the Symantec program.
Eubanks said: "We have no reason to believe 21ebrasoft did any-
thing to misappropriate CyberMedia technology. We haven't had a
long lime to analyzo'il. but Zebrasoft really uses a different architec-
ture from what other uninstallers use, to our knowledge."
CyberMedia seeks damages and wants Ihe court to keep Symantec
from selling the product. It also wants Symantec to recall all copie.s of
the Norton Uninstall product from distributors and retailers.
Microsoft Network plans beta MS Start page
(NB) — Late this year, subscribers to Microsoft Network (MSN) will
find Microsoft's on-line experience opening to a new concept and
home page called MS Stan. A company spokesperson said; "MS Start
will emphasize three concepts, practical, portable and personal." The
practical element is based on Microsoft's u.se of the a search engine
from Inktomi. The portable piece is accoinplished through Hotmail, a
recent Microsoft acquisition, which allows users to send and receive
secure E-mail from any device with Web access.
For the personal pan of MS Start, users will get “Start Clips.”
Short phrases or sentences about a news topic or travel bargain or sales
item ba.scd on a user’s customized list will appear. A click of the mouse
lakes a user to a Web site to gel a full version of the information.
"This is a very early look at something we do not expect to ship
until late this year," said the spokesperson.
Apple Computer trims
American retail presence
(NB) — Apple Computer Inc. has received mixed I
reviews and raised eyebrows with its termination
of retail agreements with Best Buy. Circuit City.
Computer City. Office Max and Sears. One analyst said the
slralegy was one more act of Apple's “corporate destruction commit-
tee.” while another said the announcement was only partially surprising.
On a U.S. national level. Apple plans to focus attention on
CompUSA’s 148 retail stores. Late last year, the computer hardware and
retail superstore chain debuted n new Apple merchandising concept
called u "store within a store." Within a certain urea of each store,
CompUSA created a small Macintosh store which is serviced by indi-
viduals with specific Macintosh training.
Digital Equipment unveils 21264 Alpha chips
(NB) — Digital Equipment Corp. has unveiled a third-generation
Alpha architecture billed as Ihe first to crash the gigahertz speed bar-
rier. The news came just one week to the day after the announcement
of Digital's merger with Compaq Computer, to form the world's sec-
ond largest computer manufacturing firm behind IBM. "The last seven
days have been interesting.” acknowledged Harry Copperman, senior
vice-president and group executive. Digital Products Division.
The new 21264 Alpha architeciure will operate "two to five times
faster than any other processor (either now) or on the horizon."
according to Copperman.
Digital plans to target the new 21264 architecture at four main
market,?: data warehousing and data mining servers; “enterprise appli-
cations," especially in the area of OLTP (online transaction processing);
Web servers operated by ISPs (Internet service providers): and desktop
applications in luenos like video, animation, games, and entertainment.
Digital is now sampling the 21264 processors among OEMs, but
pricing has not yet been announced.
Fu{it»u announces three-voft CMOS A/D converter
(NB) — Researchers at Fujitsu Ltd. say they have developed the world's
fastest CMOS analog to digital (A/D) converter. The chip is capable of a
top speed of 400 mega-samples per second, said the company.
The speed of the six-bit A/D converter is expected to be put to use
to speed up the operations of computers and consumer electronics,
such as networking equipment and disk drives. It was produced using
a three-layer (one layer of polysilicon and two layers of aluminum)
0.35 micron CMOS proccs.s and require,? a three- volt power supply.
12 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998 wtBVAwvwi
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CANADA WATCH
AST Canada operations slashed
AST Canada says ccnaiti funciions have been
consolidated with U.S. operations, as staff
size is reduced from 54 to 21 employees.
Most departments have been reduced in
size, says AST Canada, and some, including
mariteling have been consolidated with AST
USA. Accounting, sales and service, systems
engineering and warehou.se departments con-
tinue to operate in Canada.
"We are focusing our efforts on ensuring
that AST maintains a high level of service and
support for our Canadian customers," said John
Whiinall. general manager of AST Canada.
Telecom industry to cooperate on Year 2000 issues
(NB) — They may be competing for long-distance dollars, but major Canadian telecommunications
carriets are working together to deal with the Year 2000 problem. A group of companies, including
the Sienior consortium of regional phone companies, AT&T Canada Long Distance Services Inc.,
Sprint Canada Inc., two major cable-television companies, and several others have I'ormed the Year
20(X) Telecommunications Industry Forum to deal with the infamoiLs date problem.
Some telecommunications equipment, like many computers, will behave strangely when
confronted with dates beyond Dec. 31. 1999. because programs have been written with only
two digits to represent the year in dates. As a result, the systems may think dales in 2000 ate 99
years earlier than dales in 1999. rather than a year later.
The various telecommunications carriers are working to make sure their networks keep
running properly through the turn of the century, by correcting software problems and pressing
equipment vendors to make sure their hardware will function correctly.
PSINet inc. has big consumer Internet plans for iStar
(NB) — The acquisition of iStar Internet Inc. will give PSINet Inc. a presence in the consumer
Internet access market for the first lime.
PSINet Canada has secured more than 70 per cent of Ottawa-based iSlar’s shares in a
takeover bid launched a few weeks ago, and plans to make the company private and operate it
as a consumer Interne! service provider (ISP).
Speaking to a group of reporters during the Internet World Canada show and conference
in Toronto, Nadir Desai, president and chief executive of PSINet Canada, said his company will
use the iStar brand for its consumer business — a market segment PSINet has not entered in
any country other than Canada — and the PSINet brand for its commercial ISP operations.
IStar's commercial customers will be moved over to the PSINet service, he said.
Desai said PSINet chose to keep the iStar brand because of the recognition it has. He also
said part of the benefit to PSINet in acquiring the company lies in the people working for iSiar.
Tomken Microcomputer Systems Inc. lei: (905) 625-9889
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14 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998 ht,p//wmv.cc*^.co
Sceptre’s Soundx
Notebooks Are:
Rated #1 in PC Digest
“The Sceptre
Soundx 5500
Notebook is the
fastest
in the review...
"Sceptre takes top honors with
the Sceptre Soundx 5500. which leaves
all the other notebooks in its tracks when
running NSTL’s gauntlet of performance
benchmarks. This is a very fast desktop
replacement with a 233-MHz Pentium*
processor, a 13.3-inch XGA display, and a
roomy 3GB hard disk drive for storing large
multimedia files."
NSTL PC Digest, September 1997
Best Buy - PC Portables
“The Sceptre
Soundx 4500 is
an impressive
machine...”
"Sceptre is selling this
computer 1 166 MHz Pentium"'
processor with MMX™ Technology. 12.1-inch
TFT SVGA display, 2. 1 GB HDD] with 40 MB
of RAM... for just under $3,400. which puts it
well within the reach of many. This
configuration ... de.serves our “Best Buy”
rating for the value represented."
PC Portables. November 1997
’C Portables
'M
ilium* ^
In head to head comparisons against the likes
of Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Gateway 2000,
Micron and Hitachi, to name u few. Sceptre's
Soundx notebooks have proven themselves the
best. Call now for a distributor near you or
check out our web-site for more information.
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THE FIRST, THE BEST, THE ONLY
THE INDUSTRY
The Three Caesars
by Jeff Evans
The receni purchase of Digital by Compaq marked
a notch upward iti the progress of the Windows
personal computer into the big leagues of the infor-
mation technology market- Moreover, this is the
emeigence of Compaq as a new giant on the com-
puting scene. For much of computing's history, the
global IT market was dominated by one company,
IBM. chased by a couple of dozen considerably
smaller Japanese and American computer vendors and component
makers such a.s Digital, HP, NEC and Hitachi,
There was a period in the 1970s and early 19805 when it seemed that
the Japanese might become dominant in computing, but the Japanese chal-
lenge. at least for the time being, has lessened. Instead,
with the movement of the personal computer into the
bean of enterprise computing, three upstart U.S. com-
panie,s have between them come to occupy a position
of influence in computing which far outweighs their
'relatively' modest revenues. Microsoft and Intel,
makers respectively of the most popular software and
CPU chips for PCs, have benefited from a close pan- imei^ Andy GiQt«
nership dating back many years. More recently, and
especially with the announcement of its acquisition of Digital. Compaq
has become the third member of a new American triumvirate which
increasingly sets the direction of computing around the world.
Compaq to acquire Digital for US$9.6 billion
On Jan. 2S, Compaq Computer Corp. announced an agreement to acquire
Digital Equipment Corp., and form the secortd largest cpmputing company in
the world, second only to IBM Corp.
'This merger gives Digital tremendous reach and credibility in the merket-
place," said Digital chairman Robert Palmer, in a statement. "It gives us the
scale and resources to make continued investments in cur key technologies
end services.'
The acquishion was widely held to be the boost Compaq will need to seri-
ously compete in high-end corporate environments.
Why Not Japan?
Many of the Japanese technology firms that seemed poised to crush
their American counterparts a decade-and-a-half ago were divisions of
even larger industrial conglomcrate.s or trading companies, such as
Mitsubishi, NEC or Hitachi. They had the deep pockets and long-term
investment strategies to give them an edge in the great game of glob-
al high tech competition. However, in spite of the supposed deficien-
cies of American industry (short-term investor thinking, unstable cor-
porate management and unreliable workforces), America survived the
Japanese challenge and has remained the dominant global player in
computer lechnology from the inception of the computer in the i940s
until now. Part of America's durability in computing is historical,
based on the huge budgets for military, intelligence and space research
Digital and Microsoft reaffirm enterprise alliance
by Grace Casselman
While the event may have been slightly overshadowed by Compaq's
announcement of the Digital equipment just two days before; Digital and
Microsoft brought out their top guns on Jan. 28 in the form of Robert
Palmer and Bill Gates to announce an expansion to their alliance.
'Our sllisnce with Microsoft is strong and enduring,' said Palmer, speak-
ing at the San Francisco event "It's worked so well, It showcases how two
companies should work together in the best interest of their customers."
And Gates said tha alliance, which was first struck in 1995, has 'exceeded
expectations. Digital was willing to bet on Windows NT. ..(now) the NT
momentum is very strong."
The two companies rolled out the sequel to their Alliance For Enterprise
Computing: called AEC II, with the acceleration of the implementation of
NT and BackDftice as a primary goal; leveraging Digital in the "primary
irrtegratar’ role. In fact Digital currently has more than two million
Exchange seats under contract Digital plans to increase its total of
Certif ed Systems Engineers and Certified Solutions Developers from 1,600
to 3,000 by the end of 1993, with at least
have of those certified on SDL Server
and half focusing on Exchange and
Internet technologies.
Reuters Holdings pic., is a customer of
the two companies. Peter Job, chair-
man of tile company, commented: "The
two companies are very well placed to give satisfaction. Digital knows how
to build hardware for demanding applications, and haa a very large work-
force around the world."
"Microsoft has recognizad Digital’s ability to deliver services across the
entire globe," seid Robert Delbello, Windows NT marketing msnager at
Digital Equipment of Canada Ltd.
But Digital is also expected to run NT on 32 and B4-processor systems,
starting in aarly 1999. The two companies are also collaborating on
enabling 64-bit systems to ship with NT 5.0 and SQL Server.
John MecDonald, vice-president of marketing for Digital Equipment of
Canada, pointed to the growth of Windows NT. "Its the opportunity of the
'90s. It represents an opportunity for everybody."
Industry analyst Tom Kucharvy, president of Summit Strategies, comment-
ed: "There was much substance in this agreement Digital has demon-
strated a very strong commitment to Microsoft — especially NT and
Exchange, and has generated a lot of revenue. Since both companies ben-
efited. they are expanding the rela-
tionship. This will be especially impor-
tant in light of Compaq's acquisition of
Digital, giving Digital (and its demand
creation capabilities and servicesi
much more credibility In addressing
enterprise customers.
Digital stats:
• 1,600 Microsoft-certified support personnel — more than at Microsoft!
• 29 Microsoft Authorized Support Centers
• 450 service delivery locations in 100 countries
• 3 million seats, have been migrated to NT
18 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998
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DISIRIBUIINC
I Corporaiion.
THE INDUSTRY
programs during the Cold War. Perhaps more uniquely. America has
benefited from some of the same social characteristics that are some-
times regarded as weaknesses, namely — individualism and lack of
'discipline,' in the sense of refusing to fallow an official master plan
for the future of computing. The nerd/enirepreneur culture of Silicon
Valley and America's other high tech hot spots
has fostered a chaotic, but creative flood of new
inventions. It has helped America remain the
main innovator of fundamenial new ideas and
products, and allowed the U.S. to stay ahead of
better-organized but slower to react competitors.
Of course, the Japanese still excel at refining tech-
nology to yield advanced commercial products.
In particular. Microsoft and Intel have benefited
from being indiscriminate as to whom they will do business with.
Microsoft will directly or indirectly provide Windows to virtually any
vendor, and has developed versions to run on such non-Intel platforms
as CE, MIPS. PowerPC and Alpha. It has a long history of making
software for the rival Macintosh platform. For its part, Intel has fend-
ed off competition from 'clone' chipmakers such Cyrix and AMD by
innovadng ever faster and culling prices aggressively. Ironically, much
of Intel's current strength probably comes from its paranoid obsession
with staying ahead of the doners. By driving the prices of its latest
Pentium II chips down very quickly, for example. Iniel both boosts
demand for its fastest new processors, and makes life much harder for
the competitors struggling behind it.
However, in spite of the success of the Microsofi/Iniel alliance,
what was missing was a PC equivalent to IBM, a single-minded PC
company able to sell integrated solutions into the global enterprise
computing market.
IBM’s PC operation was for many years hobbled in the effec-
tiveness of its promotion of efforts political drag from older IBM
divisions selling lucrative, high-end mainframe, server and worksta-
tion products based on proprietary IBM products. IBM’s PC division,
until recently, was also burdened with the need to push IBM’s propri-
etary OS/2 product.
Compaq, founded in 1982, wa.s never anything but a PC maker.
With its internally developed desktop PCs, notebooks and servers, it
has become the principal supplier of Windows/Intel computers to the
business market. However, its progress into the higher echelons of 'big
iron’ networked enterprise computing was painfully slow, Compaq
decided on a campaign of strategic acquisitions to turn it into a true
enterprise computing company, buying Tandem Computer, a number
of networking product lines, and finally, Digital. However, the focus
of the company is still the Windows/Intel platform.
Now, Microsoft. Intel and Compaq are com-
puting’s Big Three, with combined revenues greater
than still-mighty IBM, and with historical growth
jH rates faster than IBM. They are poised to extend the
S Jh Windows/Intel computing platform as the main-
L stream solution for big business. As the three domi-
nant players at the dawn of the next century.
CwhbqS Eckhaifl Plelfler Microsoft. Intel and Compaq have an opportunity
to continue their rapid growth, displace Unix and
other high-end operating systems more quickly than expected, and
provide new business opportunities for a vast web of third-party prod-
uct developers, vendors and service providers around the world. Ct*
Jeff Evans is Associate Editor of Canadian Computer Whoiesaler. He
can be reached at JejJ@tcpon.com.
I Spy A Pie In Bill's Eye
by Jetf Evans
A prankster’s pie in Bill Gates' lace during a visrtto Brussels took public atten-
tion away from more mundane but still important Microsoft news in late
January and early February. Just prior to his junket to the pastry capitals of
Europe, Gates had held a major press conference irr San Francisco along with
Robert Palmer, CEO of Digital.
The original intended purpose was to restate the two companies’ commit-
ment to their Windows NT/enterprise computing alliance.
With the announcemant of the takeover of Digital by Compaq, a major reason
for pressing on with the media event became the need to reassure the mar-
ket that the Windows enterprise computmg alliance would continue, even
under new management
Representatives from Compaq were on hand to assure the industry that the
takeover of Digital by Compaq would not have a negative impact on the
Digital/Microsoft alliance. In fact according to a Compaq spokesman, it was
precisely the combination of Digital's NT and UNIX expertise, and a vast cor-
porate customer base, which made Compaq interested In acquiring Digital.
Gates told CCWhe expected the new, enlarged Compaq to move NT even
faster than expected into the high end corporate market Gates claimed that
many corporate customers see a duel UNIX and NT operating environment as
a good thing, although, he said, smiling, much of the new corporate business
is going directly to the NT platform.
Less widely reported were Gates' other activities In the Bay area. He visited
schools which were the recipients of hardware and software donations from
Microsoft, where he urged better quality educational resources for children,
including access to the IncerneL to help prepare them for the challenges of the
global economy. Perhaps most interestingly, Gates forcefully acknowledged
^at Microsoft now realizes that after almost 2C years of ignoring the existence
of government, it will now have to very quickly get very good at dealing wifti
governments in Washington and elsewhere. According to Gates, instead of just
helping to create the most fantastically successful industry in history, with all
the jobs end spinoff corporate startups that have come from the PC, Microsoft
must do a better job of explaining itself to the public and the government
Although Gates' troubles with governments around the world may be just
beginning, he has shown in the past a phenomenal ability to admit mistakes,
identify strategic threats and opportunities, and then respond forcefully with
the full resources of Microsoft and its numerous allies.
You Too, Brutus?
Gates will have his work cut out for him, as srrme who might be expected to
be allies of Microsoft have chosen to use his time of troubles to take a stand
against him. A public statement from the Software Publisher's Association, an
industry grouping of over 1,200 software developers (of which Microsoft is a
prominent member) obliquely criticized the possible ill effects on innovation
of having Microsoft as such a dominant standard in the industry.
Considering that many of tha SPA's members make their money in the
Windows software market made possible by Microsoft, Gates might wonder
who is going to come out of the woodwork next, either to throw a pie or stab
his company in the back.
One would hope that Gates keeps his cool, and retains a sense of perspec-
tive. Those who have so actively lobbied to set government actions against
Microsoft in motion may find that they've created a monster. The prospect of
a politically engaged and savvy Bill Gates, directing the resources of
Microsoft in a counter campaign against the 'vast conspiracy' facing
Microsoft (to borrows phrase from Hillary Clinton), should give his critics rea-
son to pause. Gates can probably shrug off the pie throwers, but he will be a
dangerous opponent in courts of law, and in the court of public opinion.
20 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998
A5731 A6771 A4811 B6911
CHENBRO MICOM CO.. LTD
5n„ No. 1 1 . Alley 1 1 . Lane 327, Sec. 2, Chung Shan
Rd., Chung Ho City. Taipei Hsien. Taiwan R.O.C.
Tel: 886-2-2489505
Fax; 886-2-2400926
CHENBRO AMERICA INC.
37900 Central Court, Newark, CA 94560, U-S.A.
Tel: (5i0)-5059795 Fax: (510)-5059796
Web Site: www.chenbro.cora.iw
Entail: chenbro@ix.netcom.com
EYE ON THE INDUSTRY_
E-Commerce VAR
Breed Of Reseller
by David Tanaka
Throw up a Web site, ruke
jp in ihe cash. How many of
Ife your clients believe thai?
ft , •- '' If you watch the
ft*’ trends, it seems Internet
commerce is gaining a head
of steam. For example.
Evans Research Corp. in
Etobicoke, Onl., reported in February that 60
per cent of respondents in its Residential and
Home Office Internet study said they have pur-
chasetl goods or .services on the Web.
Moreover. 35 per cent said they do so at least
once a month, according to ERC.
Internet commerce is also often totited
as the big equalizer for small business. A
small company with a smart and creative
presence on the Web can be just as effective
as a big company, or so the argument goes.
But in reality, even though small compa-
nies might see the income potential of elec-
tronic commerce and virtual storefronts, they
often do not have the resources to either
explore or exploit the possibilities. So despite
the hype, electronic commerce remains real-
istic only for the companies that are willing to
invest the resources to keep a Web site fresh
and attractive.
The infrastructure for E-commerce, in
terms of secure transaction processing, order
lulfillment and back room accounting sys-
tems. is quickly falling into place. What's still
missing is a way for individual companies
with individual business needs to easily plug
into the front end of the system. That's where
the E-commerce VAR comes in. This consul-
tant is Ihe bridge between a business's tradi-
tional methods of marketing and selling, and
the sometimes complex and unfamiliar oper-
ations that must be carried out in order to
establish an attractive, effective and secure
retail site on the Internet.
At the moment, this bridging function is
being fulfilled in a few way.s. with varying
degrees of opportunity for value-added ser-
vices, However as more E-commerce compa-
nies on the one side, and small businesses on
the other realize that something else is need-
ed to complete that last mile, other creative
variations are sure to arise.
IBM HomePage Creator
Last Octoher. IBM Canada rolled out its I
HomePage Creator, a turnkey E-commerce
solution aimed at small businesses that might
want to test the waters without investing a
truckload of cash. For example, for $69.95 a
month, businesses can buy into Ihe Basic
plan. This would allow them to create a five-
page Web site using Ihe included Web cre-
ation tools and design templates, add a cus-
tom name, include a 12-ilem catalog, have
the site listed on popular search engines, and
include the facility to let customers securely
order goods online. A step up from that would
be the Bronze plan, which allows merchants
to securely process credit card payments on-
line. It also allows for a bigger catalog and
more pages in the site.
While the value-add opportunities here
may be limited, consultants might just con-
sider it as a low-risk testing bed to prepare
their clients for bigger projects.
MTS Ngage
And bigger projects are what Winnipeg-
based MTS Advanced Inc. wants for its
Ngage Electronic Commerce solution. MTS
Advanced, the province's largest dial-up ISP
and a subsidiary of Manitoba Telecom
Services, is rolling out the Ngage service
through agents and value-added resellers.
MTS displayed its Ngage service at the
Comdex/PacRim trade show in Vancouver
in January.
Ngage manages the chain of processes
that typically operate in an electronic transac-
tion environment. This includes receiving
orders, calculating the costs including taxes
and shipping costs, processing payments, and
providing financial reporting to the retailer.
The company has been forging a number of
partnerships to make this happen. This
includes relationships with Seattle-based
iCat. an Internet catalog developer;
Cambridge Ma.ss.-ba.sed Open Market, for its
Transact transaction system; and Paymentech
Canada which provides credit card and elec-
tronic payment processing services.
Through its reseller programs. MTS
hopes to attract Web developers and Inlemel
I ccwmag com
consultants. The company indicates that
through its Ngage Certified Agent Program, it
will provide training, software and technical
support, and that VARs will receive a royalty
on the transactions generated by their clients
on the system.
Multiacttve Technologies
Vancouver-based Multiaciive Technologies
is working on a plan that would offer ISPs
and “Web Presence Providers" a way to pro-
vide E-commerce solutions to their small
business customers. The basis for the pro-
gram is the company's Commerce Catalyst
Suite, which comprises a Markeibuilder mer-
chant Web site creation tool and Marketplace
Engine, which is a Microsoft Internet
Information Server-based merchant site host.
Last fall, the company announced it was
working to develop an Authorized Channel
Partner program. So far the company has
rolled out Real Estate Marketbuilder for
local real estate agents and agencies.
Other E-commerce companies are fol-
lowing similar strategies.
Pandesic
It was recently reported in the U.S. trade
press that I’andesic. an E-commerce company
formed by Intel and SAP, had established a
partnership with The Vision Factory.
According to the report, the Vision Factory’s
Catalog provides a friendlier front-end to
Pandesic's backroom services. tW
Contacts:
IBM Canada HomePage Creator —
hllp://inypage-products. ihost.com/
Multiactive Technologies —
http://\vww.multiactive.com
MTS Ngage —
http:/A\'^\'\v.ngafic.iiet/
Pandesic —
http:/AnvH'.paiidi'sic.com/
The Vision Factory —
http:/Aiwv.thevisionfactory.com
David Tanaka is Editor of The Computer
Paper. Based in Mmcouver, he can be reached
at david@tcp.ca.
22 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998
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NOTEBOOK COMPUTERS
Market-share growth may be stable, the kinds of notebooks being
sold and the applications their users are putting them to. are chang-
ing rapidly — more so than on the desktop PC front.
In 1997, notebook computers accounted for about 17 to 20 per
cent of tbe Canadian personal computer market, or nearly 300,000
units, according to various industry figures. The overall 1997 PC
market grew by about 1 5 per cent in total sales over the year before,
and notebooks maintained their market-share. The relative stability
of the notebook’s place in the Canadian market represents a plateau
in the last few years, following a period during the early ’90s when
notebook sales expanded faster than the desktop PC market.
Jostling For Position
For many years, there have been a handful of notebook brands that
were the regular leaders in the notebook market; Toshiba, IBM.
Apple and Compaq.
Since the late ’80s, Toshiba ISO Canada has dominated the
Canadian notebook market, and won fame among Toshiba’s interna-
tional management as the most successful notebook operation in
Toshiba's global busines.s. By the beginning of 1998, it became obvi-
ous that Toshiba has become a big fat target for the other, hungry big
brand names.
Competition has stiffened considerably, led by a combination of
deep price cuts, especially by Dell, and aggressive introduction of
the latest multimedia and processor technology.
Depending on what Canadian industry statistics one chouses to
believe (and notebook sales stats can vary widely according to how
they are collected and interpreted). Compaq and IBM have increased
their market share to around 20 per cent each, while AST has
declined to a negligible level, and Apple, after drifting down to about
six per cent market share, may have leveled off Dell has become a
strong player, though still under 10 per cent of the market, and HP,
The Players
Although the top three notebook makers control more than 60 per cent of the
Canadian market and the top 10 represent over 80 per cent 1997 saw some
significant shifts in products and market share among vendors, and 1998 may
see this trertd continue. In general, 'brand names' seem to have an increas-
ing advantage, but among the moat energetic new players will be Tier One
computer companies, such as HP and Sharp, which ere determined to sig-
nificantly increase their sales of notebooks. Here is a partial list of major
vendors, products and strategies.
Toshiba ihitp://nww.li)shiba.cBl
Toshiba of Canada, Information Systems Group IISGI, the traditional market
leader, has been under heavy pressure from many of its competitors, but in
early February, it responded with a major refreshment of its entire line. The
new models range from its new budget priced Satellite 300 CDS Iwith a
166MHz Pentium processor, a 12.1-inch screen, a 16X CD drive and a 2.1GB
drive forS2,S99)tothe mid-range Tecra 650 COT with a 266MH2 Pentium for
$6,279, to its established Tecra 750 OVD, for over $9,000. Toshiba has the
broadest spectrum of notebook PCs, (from the handheld Libretto 70CT
through the Satellite and Portege lines, to the Tecra 750 CDT), of any of the
majorverdors. Although not generally the cheapest brand, Toshiba has con-
tinued to benefttfrom some of the best warranty and service programs in the
industry.
Compaq Ibllp^/www.coinpaq.com)
Compaq has spent the last year-and-a-half making good on its promise to
retake the leading position the notebook market, which was originally its
major area of strength. With a new line of Armada models featuring
advanced manageabilitv and networking options, and a competitively priced
new tine of Presario models, Compaq is aiming at both the enterprise and
SOHD notebook markets.
Sharp and Canada’.s own Eurocom are all declaring that 1 998 will be
the year for them to vault from tiny percentages to major market
share.
The ‘Two Market Theory' Of Notebook Sales
Representatives from IBM, Compaq, Toshiba, Apple and Dell all
voiced similar perspectives on the market and applications for note-
books in 1998 in conversation with CCW. In general, vendors see
two major markets: a ‘Desktop Replacement' market, and a 'Mobile
Worker' market.
The desktop replacement notebook market is one in which a
desk-bound employee trades in a desktop PC for a notebook which
is powerful enough to perform all the usual offiee suite, networking
IBM llitlpJ/www.eB.pc.ibm.coml
IBM's ThinkPad line holds a similar market-share to Compaq and Toshiba,
and has perhaps the best reputation tor quality and technical innovation. For
example, in addidon to sexy desktop replacament-level models such as the
thin-line 266MH2 ThinkPad 770, IBM also offers leading edge features such
as a cellular-capable S6K PC Card modem, and a wireless connector to allow
notebook users to surf the Web from up to 200 feet from the nearest phone
jack. IBM has so far refrained from introducing a Libretto-like handheld
Windows PC, but it did recently introduce the IBM WorkPad, based on the
popular 3Com Palm Pilot. Weighing only six ounces, Ore WorkPad has a
HotSynefeature that allows for automatic synchronizing of contact database
and other information between a PC (usually a notebook) and the pocket-
sized WorkPad.
Apple (htlp'J/www.apple.com)
With Apple diligently attempting a revival, the introduction of new
PowerBooks based on the super fast G3 PowerPC chips has come as a wel-
come boost. Also, after years of lagging behind Windows notebooks in fea-
tures such es CO-ROM dnves, PC Cerd slots, graphics displays and IROA
compabbilrty, currant PowerBooks are among tha fastest best-featured
notebooks on the market. Apple representatives report that sales in the tra-
ditional Apple strongholds of communications, design end education are
very strong.
Dell (http-J/www.dell.caml
Dell posed a severe challenge to all other notebook vendors in 1997, with a
one-two punch of well-featured, low cost notebooks, and an extremely pop-
ular direct sales channel via phone and, increasingly, over the IntemeL Dell
still has trouble convincing some potential customers that a direct mail
business model is a safe one for mission-critical applications, but Its offer-
ing of products very similar to particular in conhguration to popular
nnpvfWww.c
March 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 25
NOTEBOOK COMPUTERS
and communications applications. The notebook is not an 'extra com-
puter." it is the worker's 'only computer." The worker has the option
or carrying the notebook home at night or on weekends to do work
in the home office, but rarely curries the notebook around to multi-
ple other locations. Often, there is a full-sized monitor, keyboard,
mouse and printer available at the one or two desks where the note-
book is regularly used. The key elements of a desktop replacement
computer are a good keyboard and screen (though this need can be
met by the add-on keyboard and monitor), fast processor, good
graphics, network connectivity and a good local hard drive. Low
weight and long battery life are not such an issue, because the com-
puter is usually plugged into a power outlet for use. and it is usually
Toshiba models, at up to 40 per cent lower prices, has been very attractive
Hewlett-Packard lwww.hp.coni/onittibookl
Although Its OmniBook line is well respected and rates well in independent
surveys, HP has generally remained stubbornly at the bottom of or outside
the top 10 Canadian notebook vendors.
Some positive trends: according to HP, include a price drop on the ultra com-
pact 3.9 pound OmniBook 800 model, which has cause demand to jump "to
the limits of production capacity;' the new OmniBook 3000 model, a 6.7-
pound powerhouse with a 2&6MHz processor, and 13.3-inch screen is gain-
ing positive reviews: and, a radical new line of ultra-thin, ultialight 13.1
pounds, 12.Tinch screeni notebooks is expected to 'push the envelope’ of
the notebook market in the second quarter of 1998. The new notebooks are
the fruit of an alliance between HP and Mitsubishi.
HP has also helped blur the dividing line between the OmniBook 800 and its
electronic organizers with its HP 360LX and 620LX handheld CE computers.
Digital lhttp://mvw.digilal.coinl
Digital's HiMote line, another well-engineered but modestly selling notebodt line, has
anuncertainkiture as a result of the takeover of Digital by Compaq. Compaq has com-
mitted Its full support to Digitafs customers and products, but until the current "quiet
period" deciding the fate of specific Digital products such as the 266 MHz Pentium
HiNote VP 745 and HINote Ultra 2000 GTX5266M models is over, the exact nature of
the HiNofe's future, if any, is uncertain.
Panasonic lhllp://www.paaasonic.coml
Panasonic has moved out of Its "me too" statuses another small player in the
notebook market by promoting its CF-25 ruggedized notebook model, which
has succeeded in raising the brand's profile. For more mainstream notebook
purchasers, Panasonic also has attractive new products such as the CF-63
only cturied from the car to a desktop and back.
The second market is the "mobile worker" market. Mobile work-
ers are outbound workers, such as sales rep.s, auditors and journalists,
who need to travel to and work in many locations. Depending on Job
duties, they may fall into either of two categories of mobile worker:
power users or utility users. Mobile power users need desktop
replacement muscle, with the lowe.sl possible weight and long bat-
tery life. To gel this combination, they will have to buy the laie.si and
greatest technology, ui a premium price. A uip-of-ilic-line mobile
power user notebook will cost from around $6,300 (for a Eurocom
8500 super notebook) to about $10,000 (for a Toshiba Tecra 750
CDT). At mnre modest price points, less demanding mobile workers
will make do with light notebooks (six pounds or under) with slow-
er processors, smaller screens and hard drives, and less exotic bat-
teries. Most important for mobile workers is connectivity: many
notebooks have built-in 33.6Kbps modems, and some Compaq mod-
els even have optional internal Ethernet hardware.
Price/Performance:
Notebook Versus Desktop PC
The main factor holding down sales of notebooks is the fact that
desktop PCs are so powerful at such a low price. With notebooks, the
user either Itas to pay several limes the price of a desktop PC in order
to get an equivalently configured power user's notebook, or else the
user has to make do with a notebook that is substantially less power-
ful than even an entry level clone desktop PC. As mentioned, Dell
has been one of the more aggressive players in offering well-config-
ured notebooks at much lower prices than its competitors. Notebook
price/pcrformance is con.sianily improving: the problem is that desk-
top PC price/pcrformance has improved even faster in the last year.
As well, notebooks lag behind desktops in the availability of low-
power con.sumption or miniaturized versioas of standard PC components
DVD-ROM notebook, or its 4.9-pound CF-3S thin-line notebook.
Dolch lhttp://www.dolch.coinl
Although Dolch has little presence on the street in Caneda, Ks enormously
rugged, heavy, ‘luggable’ portable PCs are the market leader in extremely
demanding applications. Oolch offers portable NT servers, gigabit net-
works, and ruggedized LCD monitors, as well as desktop repiscement porta-
bles. A small player numerically, Oolch is well-suited to its niche market,
and consistently offers the latest components in its high priced but high-
quality products.
Sceptre lhap://www.sceptretech.com)
Sceptre Is a major global vendor ot monitors and notebook PCs, and its
high profile development of the LCD monitor product category has made it
much more visible In Canada. Sceptre's SoundX 5500 multimedia notebook
has won "Best Buy" awards in 1997, and Sceptre announced an expansion
of its distribution in Canada when it signed Semtack, a member of the Pine
Technology Group, as its latest authorized distributor in Canada.
Mitsubishi Electronics lhtlp://www.mitsubislii-imibile.coin)
Co-developers with HP of radical notebook technology, Mitsubishi has
unveiled its new Pedlon notebooks in the U.S. Mitsubishi also makes the
AMiTY CN 2.4-pound mini-notebook PC (which is the size of an appointment
book), aimed at the most highly mobile computer users. It is unclear what
Mitsubishi will do with these product lines in Canada, but If "t decides to
enter this market, its reputation for quality may open some doors for
Canadian Pedion and AMiTY dealers.
Acer (bap://mww.acer.coml
Acer’s Extensa and TravelMate notebooks are regularly updated, and
constitute a highly competitive brand name. For example, the TravelMate
26 CANADIAN COMPUTEFI WHOLESALER March 1998 nto’A’mwy.ceymie :
suoi|DO!|ddD Dipsuiuiniu mau Buitojsisooo jo) spjoog luatsAs ija
Quality, Award, Performance-Winner
Motherboards
NOTEBOOK COMPUTERS
such as Pentium chips, hard drives and CD-ROM drives. There is usu-
ally about a six-month delay between the appearance of a new Intel
processor for desktop PCs and the release of the low-power version for
notebooks.
The Standard Notebook In 1998
The 486 processor disappeared from the notebook market in 1997, and
few notebooks are available with less than a Pentium 120 chip. Apple
boasts, correctly, that it has the
fastest processors, with its new G3
chips. Some vendors, including
Compaq, offer ‘clone’ chips from
AMD for budget-minded cus-
tomers, hut Intel still has about 90
per cent of the total notebook CPU
market, even taking Apple's
PowerBook share into account.
Standard RAM is at least I6MB
— the minimum to run Windows
95. while 32MB of RAM is the
minimum for comfortable multi-
tasking.
Since most current Windows
software comes on CD-ROM. CD
drives are now usual on note-
books. Some models offer swap-
pable floppy and CD-ROM drives,
and even mass storage cartridge
drives, all sharing the same drive
bay, DVD-ROM drives arc widely
available as a premium option on
high-end models from Toshiba.
IBM and others. If DVD really catches on this year, it may start
appearing on mid-priced notebooks by the end of the year. Graphic
chipsets are more comparable to desktop PCs, with the meager 5 1 2K
of VRAM having been replaced by 2MB. 4MB or more graphic.s
memory. Hard drives under 1GB are rare: power users can now choose
up to 8GB of internal hard drive storage.
Screen size continues to increase, up to 15.1 inches with brighter
and more easily viewable active-matrix screens becoming available.
There is still an active debate over the merits of internal modems ver-
sus PC Card modems and network interface cards: most internal
modems are now 33.6 Kbps.
The debate over pointing
devices still rages: touch pads ver-
sus the IBM TrackPoint style
■eraserhead' cursorcomrol.
800, u very small, light mobile
shaped, miniature screen.
Form Factor?
The form factor of notebooks has
continued to spread. At the upper
end. Eurocom has created note-
books that are closer in size to
small briefcases, the belter to
accommodate a 15.1-inch screen
and a full-sized keyboard. The
other, larger trend is towards
smaller, or at least thinner. HP has
Just unveiled its new metal-
skinned, ultra-thin line of note-
books. following IBM's lead of a
year ago in offering extreme thin-
line (one-inch or less thick) mod-
els. HP has also found that recent
price drops have boosted the
appeal of its durable OmniBook
utility notebook with an unusually
71C0 offers 200MHz, 233UHz or 2&SMHz Pentium MMX processors. 32MB of
SDRAM expandable to 128MB; and up to eight hours of battery life from ore
lithium ion battery pack.
NEC lhttp://ivmv.nectBch.com)
NEC Technologies was an early leader in introducing low-cost active-matrix
displays to the notebook market, and according to some industry analysts, has
about a 7.5 per cent share of the 1997 market NEC recently hired the well-
known Tod Rehm, who helped establish Toshiba as the leader in the Canadian
notebook industry, so NEC will be worth watching in 1998. NEC also markets
the MobllePro CE handheld personal computer.
GVC Ihttpy/www.gvc.cal
At the end of January, GVC announced its 758 series of notebooks, aimed at
the mobile worker who wants to choose a competitively priced Ifrom
S3,499|, medium-weight (7.5 pounds) notebook configurable from 'utility’
confgurations up to respectably high powers (up to 233(i4Hz Pentium, 14.1-
inch TFT).
Sharp llittpyMww.sJiaq).cal
Sharp, one of the principal vendors of flat screens tor products ranging from
pocket organizers to notebooks to flat-panel monitors, is attempting to regain
a prominent position In the North American notebook market after having
withdrawn from selling notebooks here several years ago. Sharp has begun
manufacturing a wide range of notebook models, including a PC-3000 and
9000 'value' line, the W-100 'WideNote line, and a PC 'Performance' line.
Complementing the notebook line are a wide array of handheld devices,
renging from electronic organizers, to the Zaurus PDA, to the new Mobilon
handheld PC.
Eurocom (Mtp:/Avww.eurocom.cal
The only Canadian notebook maker among the top 10 Canadian notebook ven-
dors, Eurocom has developed a good reputation based on building reliable
notebooks with absolutely up-to-the-minute components. The current top of
the line Eurocom 8500 SuperNotebook offers up to 300MHz Intel or AMO
procBssofs, 15.1-inch TFT
28 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998 «ttpy«vwwi
NOTEBOOK COMPUTERS
Toshiba’s Libretto handheld PC. at just under two
pounds, has also found u market for a notebook with full
Office 97 compatibility in an extremely light design.
The Apple E-Mate 300 blurred the border between note-
book and handheld PC in 1997, offering a decent key-
board and (monochrome) screen built over Newton
MessagePad innard.s. Microsoft’s CE platform, though
not wildly successful, did include some capable exam-
ples of near-notcbook feature .sets, as in the HP 200 LX
and the Philips Velo. Now NEC plans to release a larg-
er form-factor CE 2.0 device in April with the color-
screened MobilePro 750. to be priced at SL499.
The big story in mobile computing, however,
was the runaway success of the 3Com PaImPiloL a
truly handheld device diat made no pretense of being
an imitation or desktop PC. The PalmPilot has
become popuhir because it does a few very useful things (contact man-
agement, scheduling, even E-mail) simply and cheaply. The handheld
devices still demand that their users have a real computer somewhere,
but they allow users to leave them behind much of the lime, and still
have access to critical data.
There will be a healed struggle between the current Big Three
Windows notebook market leadens throughout 1998. Resellers should
consider two basic orientations to making a buying decision.
In the corporate notebook market, experience with the hazards of
notebook ownership has led most IT managers to place a premium on
brand reputation, warranties, and service contracts (especially rapid
replacement options). This gives a deffnite competi-
tive edge to the traditional major players, Toshiba,
IBM and Compaq.
In the SOHO market, there is still a price-sensi-
tive orientation towards high value: good feature sets
at lower prices. This allows vendors who differentiate
themselves on price or leading edge components to
find buyers, Compaq, for example, has launched a
Presario value line of notebook.s. some of which use
AMD processors, and which don’t feature the same
degree of built-in connectivity and network manage-
ment as the Armada line.
Toshiba and IBM offer value notebook lines com-
posed of in effect ’last year’s notebooks’ — deeply
discounted notebooks with older components and fea-
At a certain price, any notebook will sell. As AST could testify,
however, a healthy product line has to contain a full spectrum of prod-
ucUs, from premium dream machine to remainder heap bargain.
To complicate matters further, there is an increasing trend in the
industry towards ‘disiniermediaiiDn,’ dispensing with resellers alio-
gelher This trend was started by Dell and furthered by Gateway 2000,
but bus sparked a general movement among all vendors for at least
‘build-io-order’ programs, if not full-blown direct sales, il*
Jeff Evans is Associate Editor of Canadian Computer Wholesaler. He
can be reached at jeff@tcpon.com.
Canadian Notebook Vendors
Unit Share 1997
HP Digital Acer Apple Euroconi
L2ii L3K L8% 2.9% 2.»
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30 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998 hnpy/Ww.c
Or, Making The Whole Greater
Than The Sum Of Its Parts
by Paul Lima
Collaboration.
Synergy.
The left hand knowing what the right hand is doing.
Close to the customer.
COLLABORATIVE/WORKGROUP
While information technology cannot save a sinking ship, employ-
ees of well-managed companies can u.sc IT to collaborate, work in
a synergistic manner, co-ordinate alt hands and stay close to the
customer.
"An organization with direct access to information about their
products and services, and direct access to their supply chain, can
provide a belter service." says Nelson Ruest. director. Resolutions
Enterprises, in Sherbrooke. Que. Informed customers make enlight-
ened choices, and personnel can provide them with better solutions.
“Coliaboraiivc/workgroup software serves to pul these elements
together." and competition and speed to market have fuelled the need
for greater collaboration, says Jamey Simzer. director, channel sales
for Novell Canada Inc. in Markham. Ont. "As companies are becom-
ing smaller and are pressured to deliver more to their customers,
speed of delivery can only be accomplished through more efficient
processes. Communication is the key to the success of the processes
whether that is sending E-mail to a group, managing tusks or the abil-
ity to electronically schedule multiple people across the country in u
single message."
Groupware "is a natural progress of E-mail and the network."
says l.ssic Rabinovitch. a Toronto-based computer technology consul-
tant. “People wanted to exploit their nctwork.s. to move beyond shar-
ing peripherals, but the basic issues of the network needed to be
resolved before resellers could add the value of groupware."
While networks put the required elements for collaboration in
place “the required infrasiniciure was not in place to facilitate it."
says Peter Carrescia. national technology manager, for Lotus
Development Canada Ltd. in Toronto.
Carrescia points out that muuy organizations collaborated using
voice mail, faxes and letters but these systems "became increasingly
problematic as more complex processes needed to be tackled |and|
extended to cu.siomers and .suppliers."
Once people had access to E-mail, they saw the potential of
threaded discussion.s. public folders, access to schedules, sequential
E-mail routing lists and other features that are standard in groupware
application such as Lotus Notes. Micro.sofi Exchange Server,
GoldMine contact manager. Novell's GroupWi.se, Fir.stClass. and
other applications, says Rabinovitch.
Considering that internal E-mail on networks or Internet E-mail
to the desktop is reaching a critical mass — there is tremendous
room for growth iit the groupware market. But
that begs the questions: who is the target market?
"At its most basic, collaborative software
would include the function of E-mail. This is a
type of application that is universally u.scd across
an organization," says Carrescia.
The Tonmto Star recently reported that 2.7 tril-
lion E-mails would be sent in 1997. a number esti-
mated to grow to 6.9 trillion by 21KX)-
"As the most common form of workgroup
software. E-mail is now moving towards
structured activities like document collaboration,
and instant groupware," says Lesley Paul, product manager for
Exchange Server at Microsoft Canada.
Two important trends have occurred in the last two years around
collaborative software, says Carre.scia. Collaborative application inter-
faces (design and graphics) have matured, allowing users to work in a
more intuitive manner and applications have become itiore interactive.
"Whether through multimedia or dynamic personalization of a site,
users are more drawn into an application now than ever before."
The Market
"The more collaborative environments are ones in which the paths to
goals have to be invented by the group." .says David Weinberger, edi-
tor of the Journal of the Hyperlinked Or);imizoiion in Brookline.
Mass. "These lend not to be highly regulated or highly automated
environments. They do tend to be found more regularly in engineer-
ing, sales, human resources and marketing."
"Collaboration usually affects the entire company but began in
workgroup functions. High-tech companies and high service compa-
nies are the greatest users of collaboration technology." says Simzer.
Ian Galbraith, public relations manager for Seagate Software Inc.,
gcxis much further: "Ail companies can u-se workgroup software. All
companies have duliihases/daln warehouses containing information.
Companies need the tools to be able to access, analyze, and add value to
that information in a timely fashion."
Value-Added Services
So there is a market and a need and the infrastructure is in place. Bui
what's in it for VARs? The answer is: hardware and software sales,
application customization and training.
Reseller opportunities include "integration with existing or out-
dated systems through a variety of gateways, integration with fax
and imaging solutions as well as business process engineering
through the advancements in work-flow management." says Simzer.
Ruest says VARs and systems integrators should exploit the oppor-
tunities both for their sake and for the sake of the customer. "The advan-
tage of working with these new technologies is that everything is
reusable. The same programming languages are used over and over, thus
knowledge is accumulated. Customers come to us for expertise. The
more projects we are involved in. the more experience we gain."
“Security is a key factor when /mplementmg
an information sharing software application [and]
fault tolerance is key when several queries
are being sent to a server at once."
— Ian Galbraith
hUDjVwvwccwmsgi
March 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 31
COLLABORATIVE/WORKGROUP
Resellers should not oversell groupware solutions. "Gening an
upplicalion with more features than you need is not a good idea."
says Rabinovilch, so neither is selling customers more than they
need. "Lotus Notes is remarkably capable in the right hands and if
the client needs Notes, then this is where the VAR comes in. The
application has to be customized and users must be trained." But if
all the user wants is E-mail, Just sell E-mail, he
advises or you will frustrate your clients.
Ruest agrees. “Like all projects, the first
phase is a needs analysis."
It’s the VAR’s job to help customers find
what they need.
Combined with Microsoft Outlook.
Microsoft Exchange allows iSVs and VARs “to
address an organization's immediate E-mail and
document collaboration needs right out of the
box. The instant Groupware feature brings that
same ease of use to the increasingly su-uciured. and increasingly pop-
ular, groupware category." says Microsoft.
Simzer says customers should look to products, like Novell's
GroupWise, "that not only provide E-mail services but integrate E-
mail. calendaring/scheduling, task management, document manage-
ment, work-flow, and remote and Web acec.ss services."
The Internal Web
When it comes time to put a collaborative system together, analysts
say organizations are better off using intranet technologies.
"InUTinets let people work together in new way.s. The technolo-
gy is creating the ability. The ability is creating the need,” says
Weinberger.
Most software vendors have been moving to an integrated soft-
ware model. Tools such as Visual Basic, HTML, ActiveX and Java
make development simple and reusable. Since most products today
support one or the other of these programming tools, whatever the
manufacturer, "VARs and Sis can clearly profit from this standard-
ization,” says Ruest.
Lotus believes that a collaborative platform, such as Domino,
should support the different classes of collaborative application.s
without using different software applications for different types of
collaboration, says Carrescia, A "stovepipe approach to collabora-
tion" creates impediments to the sharing of information between col-
laborative applications, “which was the kind of the problem that col-
laborative software was supposed to solve."
VARs and Sis should also build in scalability. "You don’t want
it to fail if it succeeds," says Weinberger. He warns that organiza-
tions should not just move the old hierarchical ways of working
onto a new medium. “The collaborative software should be
designed to leverage the power and ethos of the Web.” which he
describes as decentralization, ubiquity, anti-uuihoriiarianism. He is
a "big fan” of Livelink from Open Text, an application he says
meets the criteria.
Cleamet Communications Inc., a digital wireless communica-
tions services provider, chose Open Text's Livelink Intranet as its
enterprise application standard for managing knowledge across the
company. "Our shared hard drives were a data jungle, there were too
many versions of documents available, hampering our ability to
access information and share knowledge," says Jackie Puchalski,
CIcarnel's director, corporate information systems, "Deploying
Livelink Intranet enables us to work across different departments and
platforms, managing our documents, collaborating on projects and
harnessing the knowledge that was previously so widely distributed
across the corporate knowledge base [and] the ability to add users via
the browser also presents big savings not only in training, but also in
desktop maintenance.”
Beyond scalability, resellers must consider security, fault toler-
ance and information sharing- “Security is a key factor when imple-
menting an information sharing software application [and] fault tol-
erance is key when several queries are being sent to a server at once."
says Seagate's Galbraith.
While groupware applications can be used to stretch work
forces throughout u building, across a continent or around the world
and keep them working
together, they can also
be used to train the
workforce. Over the
next four to five years,
“the ability to achieve
and maintain a highly
skilled woritforce will
become one of the pri-
mary competitive strat-
egies pursued by Can-
adian corporations,”
according to a report
published by Inter-
national Data Corp.
(iDC) Canada Ltd.
As corporations
transform themselves
into what IDC calls
“learning organiza-
tions," they will turn to
service firms to assi.st
in the development of
learning processes and
strategies “with a focus
on E-Leuming.”
With collaboration
now part of the corpo-
rate work-style, VARs
should be able to use
the sale of collaborative
applications to expand
markets and increase
revenue opportunities
Paul Lima is a Tommo-hased joumalisi who specializes in high-
technology. He can be reached at liko@idirecl.com.
“As companies are becoming smaller and are
pressured to deliver more to their customers,
speed of delivery can only be accomplished
through more efficient processes."
— Jamie Simzer
m rllA
Microsolt Oattook
32 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998
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by Geof Wheelwriglii
As electronic moil becomes the dominant medium for «riuen commu-
nication between employees and outside customers, concern is grow-
ing about the tools needed to manage electronic muil. As well, there's
a need to protect users from E-mail-borne viruses (particulariy macro
viruses in spreadsheet and word-processed files).
So implementing and managing corporate electronic mail .ser-
vices has become a liuge strategic issue for many companies. And it
leads to a number of issues — with almost more questions lhan
answers. These include:
• What should E-mail be used for ’
• Should employees be encouraged lo give out their E-mail addresses
to all imd sundry — or should they be required to limit their E-mail
traffic lo essential business contacts?
• Who owns the E-mail?
• Who has the right to look at anyone else's E-mail?
• How is external and Intcmct mail handled?
• Are file attachments permitted?
• If a file attachment contains a software virus, who is responsible for
ensuring that it doesn't spread to other systems on the network?
• What preventative measures are taken to ensure that files containing
viruses never get opened'’
Is It Too Big?
There are also network resource issues. Suppose, for example, you
have within your company .some bright young spark who designs a
1MB PowerPoint presentation that he feels he just hax to share with 20
of his closest colleagues via E-mail.
Leave aside for a moment the questton of whether or not such a
presentation might more properly be posted on an iniemul company
“intranet" site. The fact is that a poorly-designed E-mail system would
34 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998 nRp.«Wwwcwme».«
COLLABORATiVE/WORKGROUP
cause thut single E-mail to use more lhan 20MB of hard disk space
within the company as it is copied onto each of user’s local hard disk.
A good E-mail system would offer the choice of copying the file
to the local hard disk with each file send — or instead ju.st including
within the E-mail a pointer to the file’s location on the network- The
pointer would lake the form of a Web-style “link" that would instant-
ly open the presentation when it was clicked.
The first issue, for many users, however, isi
just the busine.ss of properly managing which E-
mail goes where. Some people get hundreds of
electronic mail messages a day. With the volume
of information coming at them, they face great
difficulty sorting the urgent messages (to which
an immediate reply is often needed) from
"broadcast” electronic memos sent to everyone
in the company. The latter do not generally
require a reply and can sometimes be digested
on a more lei.surely timetable. I
menLs. HTTP Web downloads and FTP file transfers. It is also sup-
posed to block Java applets. Active X controls and software that is not
“signed” or recognized by the Auihenticode Internet protocol as orig-
inating from a commercial software supplier. Trend Micro currently
offers versions of InterScan VirusWall for the Windows NT. Solaris
and HP-UX operating systems and has a version of IBM's AIX oper-
ating system under development.
‘Unfortunately, E-mail attachments are the greatest
virus threat to most corporations due to the rapid
spread of macro viruses and the lack of tools to
detect viruses in this environment."
— Irfan Salim
What Did You Put In The Mail?
It also appears corporate computer users are increasingly becoming con-
cerned about the file attachments they are receiving in electronic mail
tiles. Particularly since the proliferation of “macro” viruses thut have
infected Microsoft Word and Excel files (two of the most common types
of file to attach in an E-mail mes.sage), some companies in Canada are
having all incoming E-mail attachments inspected for viruses before
they are opened. Others are simply banning attachments altogether.
One of the problems thus far has been that users do not know they
have an infected file until they open it. And by then, it is usually loo
late as the virus infects the computer’s hard disk from the moment it
is opened.
Macro viruses also do not typically create so many problems that
it renders the computer unusable — they just make it more frustrating
to use than it already is.
This kind of irritation might, for example, take the form of sav-
ing files incorrectly or not allowing one to open certain types of files.
It does, however, mean that users will often unknowingly continue to
use their systems after they have been infected with a macro virus.
This viru.s will often then infect many other documents — and users
will send out E-mail attachments containing those infected documents,
thereby further propagating the virus.
Cupertino, Calif. -based Trend Micro Inc. has thus found a huge
market for a recently-introduced product designed to detect virus-
"In an attempt to control viruses hidden
in E-mail attachments, many companies
restrict the use of Internet E-mail or
prohibit the use of message attachments."
— Cathy Munii
infected files within electronic mail attachments.
“Unfortunately, E-mail attachments are the greatest virus threat to
most corporadons due to the rapid spread of macro viruses and the
lack of tools to detect viruses in this environment." explained Trend
Micro's U.S. president Irfan Salim.
The company’s InterScan VirusWall scans SMTP E-mail attach-
According to one of Trend Micro’s latest customers, the problem
of electronic mail-borne viruses has become so bad that many corpo-
rate users are simply unwilling to open mail that has an attached docu-
ment. Cathy Munn. president of the Vancouver-based Electric Mail Co,
Inc., says demand for a product or service that will scan E-mail mes-
sages for viruses has really “heated up” over the past year and that her
company has licensed Trend Micro’s software to meet that demand.
“In an attempt to control viruses hidden in E-mail attachments,
many companies restrict the use of Internet E-mail or prohibit the use of
REWARD I
$ 10 , 000.00
Reward offered up to $10,000,000 paid to
any individual providing information
leading to the recovery of 6,000 3.24GB
Fujitsu hard drives which were stolen
January 12, 1998.
The hard drives are model no.
MPB3032AT and are contained within the
serial number series 05001478 to
05108920.
Individuals with information please call
investigators at (416) 717-0406.
If you wish to remain anonymous call
Crime Stoppers at
(416) 222-TIPS or 1 ■800-222-TIPS.
Crime Stoppers will pay out cash awards
for information upon an arrest.
March 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 35
COLLABORATIVE/WORKGROUP
message attuehments,” observed Munn.
“Companies need an effective means of pre-
venting viruses from ever reaching their orga-
nization while taking advantage of the busi-
ness benefits of Internet E-mail.”
The Electric Mail Co., whose North
American customers include large firms
such Panasonic, Campbell Soup and the
Delta Hotels and Resorts chain, has there-
fore launched a service called E-mmunitj'
that uses the Trend Micro software to scan
all incoming electronic mail before it
enters a customer's electronic mail system.
The service costs USS35 per month for
virus protection on the electronic mail of
up
) 30 u
When nn organization .subscribes to E-
mmunily, all E-mail addre.ssed to their corpo-
rate domain name is funneled through
Electric Mail's E-mmunity Mail Relay
System where Internet E-mail attachments are
scanned. The company says any infected or
suspect attachments are then destroyed, and a
“warning of infection” notice is inserted in
the E-mail message and sent on to the intend-
ed recipient. If during the scanning process no
viruses are detected, the E-mail proceeds dir-
ectly to the recipi-
ent. The company
says that this all
occurs in real-time
to ensure minimal
delays in E-mail
transmission.
Munn says that
this “minimal delay"
is a small price to
pay for keeping
viruses out of your
corporate network.
She also says
that subscribers to
the E-mmunity ser-
Intemet E-mail sys-
tem. or Internet
Service Provider, in
almost any country
world-wide. Munn
adds that there are no
additional hardware,
software or mainte-
nance requirements on the part of the client and
that E-mmuniiy currently scans for more than
7.00U viruses and is continuously updated witlr
new virus strains (about 2(X) per month). BW
Ceof Wheelwrighi is a Vancouver-based
journalistic who specializes in high-
technology iriioriing. He can he reached at
geoffw®wimse\.com.
Intowave Wireless sends E-mail over the air waves
A Burnaby. B.C.-based company is pioneering the connection between wireless data com-
munications technology and corporate electronic mail systems. Unlike the many ad-hoc
cellular connections that some individuals and companies m<iy have experimented with.
Infowave Wireless Messaging Inc. (htlp;y/www.infowave.nei/) is aiming to make it easy
for users with either handheld or notebook computers to stay in touch with their offices
remotely.
Last year, for example, the company announced a piece of software that runs on a
company’s network server solution that is designed to consolidate E-mai) from multiple
accounts — letting users establish wireless connections without requiring them to have a
second E-mail box with a third-party electronic mail provider. It is also a real boon for
those who. for one reason or another, have multiple electronic mail accounts and need a
simple way to check them all at once.
Known as Infowave Golden Retriever, it is a Microsoft Windows NT Server-based
product which retrieves E-mail on behalf of users from any number of accounts and deliv-
ers the mail to any mail box the user specifies. It is designed to “fetch" E-mail on demand
and on scheduled intervals from any POPS, Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, Lotus
cc:Mail, and Novell Groupwise account. The company says Golden Retriever will deliv-
er the messages for a user to any internet address or corporate mailbox via landline or
wireless network.
According to Infowave vice-president Rob Boyko, the key to this product is sim-
plicity. "The beauty of Golden Retriever is that it accesses multiple E-mail accounts and
deposits all your messages into one in-box on your desktop, laptop, or handheld PC." he
says. "We’ve received u huge number of requests from Internet service providers (ISPs),
corporations, wireless service providers and paging companies .seeking immediate and
convenient access for their electronic me.ssaging users."
Infowave has
also been active in
promoting access
to wireless elect-
handheld comput-
ers. Late last year,
the company ann-
ounced the comple-
tion of a software
development effort
with Microsoft to
create Infowave CE
— software which
provides wireless
access for handheld
computers that use
the Microsoft Win-
dows CE operating
system.
The company
says this software
lets Windows CE
users send and
receive corporate E-mail, internet E-mail, faxes and receive Web pages — all wireless-
ly. Users do however, have to have Infowave CE as the E-mail “client” and infowave’s
Update software on the server — but they can maintain their existing in-Box and
Folders.
Infowave says it makes client and .server software on an OEM ba.sis for about 75
per cent of the wireless service providers in North America including Wynd
Communications and DTS Wireless. In addition to Microsoft, other "corporate part-
ners” include Megahertz (US Robotics). Cantel/AT&T. Ram Mobile Data. IBM and
Erics.son.
36 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998 mo.ffwww.m
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contact your TKP sales representative at (604) 279-0320.
HARD DRIVE MOTHER BOARD
High Performance Redefined!
The latest breed of 333MHz power-packed.systems
push the envelope on computing Capability.
process. Although the number of transistors remains the
O ne of the most enjoyable things about being
mvolveil in the computer industry is watching
new technology emerge. Without a doubt, some
of the most exciting times occur when a giant
chip manufacturer announces the availability of a
new processor with improved engineering design, lower-power
consumption and, of course, higher clock frequencies.
It’s easy to detect an increased level of excitement in the
voices of vendors when we call them up and request that they
submit systems for review which make use of these new
processors. Depending on the timing, sometimes it may be
extremely difficult for them to obtain the goods, as we Ibund
out during this month's system roundup. It generally takes a
few solid weeks before a new generation of processors is read-
ily available to system vendors around the country, though
some of them are lucky enough to get their hands on them
before their competitors. Thanks to those manufacturers who
went out of their way to provide us with these new speed
demons in time for our deadline!
What's New With Pentium li?
On Jan, 26. Intel officially announced the newast member of
the Pentium II family, the 333MHz version. The most notable
difference in the new processor is the smaller 0.25-micron
process. The first three members of the Pentium II line (the 233.
266 and .300MH7, units) were aJi designed with a 0.35-micron
at 7.5 million, the lighter, more compact engineering process
allows for higher clock frequencies. The physical characteris-
tics of the new processor are aJso the same as its predece.ssors,
using a 242 -pin SEC (Single Edge Contact) design. This allows
for the processors to be used on most current motherboards that
support multiplier settings of 5X.
So aside from the smaller fabrication process and the extra
33MHz boost, there's nothing really new about the new proces-
sor other than its high price tag. Since the latest price cuts by
Intel, the 30()MHz chips which were selling for around SI. 150
are now available on the street for $950. In turn, the new
333MHz variety carries the new four-digit price lags, selling
for roughly $1,350 to end-users. Although dealer prices are
lower, the best value at this time looks to be the 266MHz ver-
sion of the Pentium II - available for $650 retail. However, if
your customers ore intent on having the late.si (not to mention
fastest) in processor technology, they will be required to pay a
premium. For those who are more budget-conscious, the extra
33MHz will not be enough to justify the liuge premium.
More Than Just A Processor
It goes without saying that much more goes into a high perfor-
mance system than just a fast processor. The components
going into a high-performance PC today arc also different than
they were just six months ago. For starters, we now have IDE
hard drives with total capacities exceeding 8GB available to the
consumer for just over $500. Although it may seem like
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LAB TEST
overkill to most, it's not all that hard to imagine a day in the near future
when even this won’t be enough. Take a look at most software tides
today, be they games or application.?, and you’ll quickly realize that a
“typical install" will take upwards of 250MB. A few modem games on
a hard drive can easily exceed 3GB. If you’re looking to do a little bit
of everything with the PC, the combination of games, productivity and
multimedia applications will add up to staggering proportions in no
lime at all. This holds especially true if the PC is used for video and
sound editing where a few minutes of data can take up several hundred
megabytes.
New generation video cards are also available, giving your cus-
tomers more choice than ever when it comes to building their high per-
formance system. Although there is no support yet for AGP video built
into the operating system. AGP cards are everywhere, and cost only a
few dollars more than their PCI counterparts. Sales of these cards are
expected to boom when OS level support is added in the upcoming
versions of Windows 98 and NT 5. Aside from the new bus architec-
ture. nearly every major manufacturer is now offering cards with SMB
onboard. The additional onboard RAM allows for faster video perfor-
mance at higher resolutions, as well as being able to support true color
all the way up to 1 ,600 by 1 ,200. For the most part, the additional 4MB
adds only a .small fraction to the cost of the video card, and depending
on what the PC’s main uses will be, it can be money well spent. Of
course, customers have the option to add the additional RAM at any
lime thanks to the new SIMM-like upgrade modules offered by manu-
facturers.
Perhaps the single most important decision your customers can
make when it comes to getting the most performance from their PCs is
adding additional RAM to the system. Since RAM prices are at an
incredible all-time low, equipping a system with 64MB of total RAM
will only cost an additional $100 over 32MB. The systems we
reviewed this month each hud 128MB. which is more than adequate
for even the most power-hungry users. A large amount of RAM is par-
ticularly desirable if Ihe PC is used for editing large image files or
sound files, or working with video clips. For non-multitasking envi-
ronments, a total of 64MB will suffice for both gaming and work-relat-
ed applications.
No mailer what your customers may want in their high perfor-
mance PCs, it's important that they understand that there is much more
to raw performance than processor speed alone. The right combination
of hard drive, video card, motherboard and total RAM can often be
used to achieve overall higher performance.
Our Tests
We asked vendors to send us machines based on Pentium II 333MHz
processors and 128MB of RAM. All other componenLs were left up to
the vendor. Although we got fewer submissions than usual, we did get
a nice mix of systems, each with their own unique configuration. As
usual, we ran the BAPCo Sysmark32 benchmark tests on all machines,
which we configured to run in a resolution of 1,024 by 768 at a 32-bit
true color depth.
Note: Although the latest generation of higher quality motherboards
allows for various bus frequencies to he used beyond 66MH2, alt of
our tests K’ere conducted at 66MHz. Systems which were configured
for 75MHz and SiMHz bus speeds were reconfigured to the maximum
supported bus frequency as stated by Intel for use on its 440LX chipset,
which is currently 66 MHz. Although it is possible lo boost the overall
system speed by increasing bus speeds, this practice should be left up
to the customer and not preset by the vendor. Technically speaking,
overciocking the bus frequency does not automatically overclock the
CPU so long as the overall system speed is ihe same. For example, a
300MHz system can be configured as either 66 by 4.5 or 75 bv 4.
Likewise, a 333MHz system can be set for either 66 by 5 or 83 by 4.
Selling a system lo a customer with a higher bus speed may not be ille-
gal, although it can he looked upon as unethical. The chances of sys-
tem crashes are far more likely with higher bus speeds, and customers
who do not have strong technical skills will suffer as a result.
The Contenders
Fastech Compucon
Without a doubt, this month's most
uniquely configured system
comes from Fastech Computer
Ltd. The machine bearing the
Compucon label is powered
by the brand new Pentium
II 333MHz processor, and
128MB of SDRAM all on
an ASUS motherboard. The
storage system consists of a
Seagate 4.50B UW-SCSI
drive using a DPT PM2044UW
controller. The LeadTek WinFasl
L2300 AGP card with SMB of
SGRAM onboard will aid in high-speed
graphics even at extreme resoludons. Rounding out the system are
components such as a Panasonic 24X CD-ROM drive, an SB AWE64
sound card, a SupraXpress 56Kbps voice/faxmodem and an LS-120
SuperDisk drive. With an overall score of 292 on our benchmarks, this
machine is very capable, loaded, and has an estimated street price of
$4,650 with a two-year parts and labor warranty.
STD CompuPartner
Known for their excellent price/per-
formance ratio, systems from
STD are always a welcome
sight in our Lab Test. The
system we received this
month proved once again
that excellent perfor-
mance doe.sn’l always
cost a bundle. Equipped
with a Pentium II proces-
sor running at 333MHz
and 128MB of SDRAM on
a MicroStar motherboard, this
system has everything a power
user could ever ask for, and then
some. For high-speed graphics at any res-
olution, the ATI Xpert@Work AGP card with 4MB of SGRAM
onboard will please both the avid gamer or casual user thank-s to its
Rage Pro chip. The popular Quantum 6.4GB hard drive with UDMA
support is also found in this system, offering not only plenty of stor-
age but high-speed access lo your data as well. Speaking of data. Ihe
Panasonic LS-120 drive is a technology that is finding its way into
many systems these days, and will hopefully replace the old 1.44MB
floppy drives in the very near future.
Multimedia components in this system consist of a Pana-sonic
24X CD-ROM drive, a Sound Blaster AWE64 sound card, a pair of
multimedia speakers and a USR 56Kbps fax modem. On the software
40 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998 nnpvlWww.t
WHY PflY MORE?
ADDED FEATURES:
Chipset buiit-in CPU, VGA, PC2TV & Sound function for reducing
Switching Voltage Regulator Built-in
ATX/AT POWER connector On Board
Desktop management interface (DMI)/PC 97 Compliant
C6
m
168-13982 Cambie Road Richmond B.C. Canada V6V 2K2
Tel. (604) 270-4455 Fax. (604) 270-4488 E-mail, resonant@aicom.com wang@max-net.com
LAB TEST
side of things, the system includes Norton's AntiVirus and the Intel
LanDesk Client Manager. With an estimated street price of S2,999 and
a three-year parts and labor warranty, this system is without a doubt
the best value in town.
ELCO
This system completely look us by surprise. Upon reading over the
enclosed specification sheet, the first thing that came to mind was that
someone must've made a mistake somewhere. But it's no mistake, and
yes. it’s a complete package including a 300MHz Pentium II processor,
128MB of SDRAM, a 3Dlabs Picasso AGP card with SMB onboard, a
Fujitsu 3.20B hard drive, a Liteon 24X CD-ROM drive and a Sound
Blaster AWE64 sound card. Oh, and there’s also a 56Kbps modem to
top it all off. True, the hard drive isn’t exactly the biggest, and the
modem may not be a USR, but for $2,000 what more can you ask for?
Hewlett-Packard
Pavilion 8280
The latest addition to the
popular Pavilion line by
HP is the model 8280. It
makes use of the very
latest technology and
includes components
such as the Pentium II
333MHz processor,
64MB of SDRAM, a
roomy 8GB hard drive,
Hitachi DVD drive, i
4MB ATI AGP graphics card
with 4MB of SGRAM onboard
as well as TV output, and a 56Kbps
modem based on Fiex technology. The
package also includes a generous amount of software such as
Microsoft Works. Microsoft Money '97, Quicken Basic by Intuit, Day-
Timer HomeLife by Starfish Software, HP Financial Calculator,
Microsoft Picture It, Microsoft Greetings Workshop, Howdy by Alia
Vista, EasyPhoto by Storm Software. Connections by Discovery
Channel (DVD). Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia, Reader Rabbit 2,
Ultimate Writing & Creativity, Operation Neptune. Hollywood
Studios DVD Sampler from Warner, and a slew of on-line service trial
offers such as AOL, Prodigy and CompuServe. As an added bonus for
registering electronically, the buyer gets SimCity 2000 by Maxis.
LCF Technology INET
From LCF Technology i
Richmond, B.C., comes this
INET system, loaded with
some of the very latest
technology the industry
has to offer. To start off,
we have the new
333MHz Pentium II
processor backed by
128MB of SDRAM, a ,
Quantum 4.3GB UDMA '
hard drive for storage, and '
a Diamond Viper V330 AGP
video card with 4MB onboard
for super-fast video. Instead of the
-it -
usual CD-ROM drives found in most other systems, this machine was
equipped with the very latest DVD technology, a Creative Labs Dxr2
DVD drive. For excellent sound reproduction, there's the very popular
Sound Blaster AWE64, also from Creative Labs. A USR 56Kbps
voice/fax modem is included for instant communications right out of
the box. To lake advantage of the latest in processor and graphics tech-
nology, two games are included with this machine which require a
Pentium II processor and AGP video card to work properly — DVD
Basket and Beanslack, and Redline Racer, With a street price of
$3,370, this system offers a little bit of everything for the intermediate
and even power-hungry individual.
r
Edge KTX
Systems with the KTX label came K
us from Edge Computer Ltd. The
configuration used to build this
machine is every power user's
dream. To start off', we have
the latest Pentium II proces-
sor from Intel running :
333MHz and 128MB of
SDRAM. The system
includes an excellent video ’ i ^ /
subsystem consisting of a , ,
Matrox Millennium II PCI card ' '
with SMB onboard for superior 2D
graphics, and a Diamond Monster 3D
for use in the latest 3D games. A Seagate
4.5GB Ultra SCSI hard drive is used as the primary storage device,
coupled with an Adaptec 2940UW controller. Multiinedia components
include a Mitsumi 32X CD-ROM drive and a Sound Blaster AWE64
sound card. On the software side of things, the package includes the
Microsoft Home Essentials bundle consisting of Microsoft Word 97.
Works 97, Publisher, and Bookshelf. Priced to resellers at $3,790, this
KTX system comes with a two-year parts and labor wiurjnly.
Ultinet
When it comes to building systems
that perform amazingly well at
highly competitive prices,
Ultinet Computer Corp. ha-s the
process down to an art form.
The system we received this
month was loaded from lop to
bottom with nothing but the
very best components the
computer industry has to offer.
Although the processor in the v
machine was not the new ' itfy,
333MHz variety, this system man- '
aged to achieve the highest score in the
entire roundup on its 300MHz chip. The sys-
tem is configured with i28MB of SDRAM, a Matrox Millennium U
PCI video card with SMB of WRAM. a brand new 8.4CB Quantum
Fireball SE hard drive with UDMA support, ii Panasonic 24X CD-
ROM drive, an LS-120 drive, and a USR 56Kbps voice/fax modem. An
SB AWE64 sound card and !20-walt speakers will enhance the multi-
media experience from included software lilies .such as Compton's
Encyclopedia and 50 other packaged titles, or you can choose a seven-
title mini-office suite. With an estimated selling price of $3,099. this
machine comes with a two-year parts and five-year labor warranty.
42 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998
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LAB TEST
•A'
Fastech
Compucon
STD
CompuPartner
Mar. 98
ELCO
Processor
Pentium II 333MHz
Pentium 11333MHz
Pentium II 300MHz
RAM
128MB SDRAM
128MB SDRAM
12BMB SDRAM
Video Card
LsadTek L2300 AGP
ATI Xpert@Work AGP
3Dlabs Picasso AGP
Video Memory
SMB SGRAM
4MB SGRAM
8MB SGRAM
Monitor
None
None
None
Sound Card
SBAWEM
SB AWEE4
SB AWE64
Hard Drive
Seagate
4.5GB UW-SCSl
Quantum
6.4GB UOMA
Fujitsu
3.2GB UDMA
CD-ROM Drive
Panasonic 24X
Panasonic 24x
Liteon 24X
Modem
SupraXpress 56K
USR 56K
Harmony 56Kbps
System BIOS
Award
AMI
Award
Operating System
Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95
Extras
LS-120 drive
DPT UW-SCSl controller
180W speakers
LS-120 drive
Multimedia speakers
BAPCo Benchmarks
Desktop Publishing
277
320
305
Desktop Graphics
557
517
513
Desktop Presentation
294
271
271
Word Processing
275
286
293
Spreadsheet
280
313
296
Database
283
338
336
Sysmark32
292
306
303
Contact
(604) 279-9686
1-800-463-6783
1905) 470-7301
Internet contact
www.compucon.com
www.std.net
www.elco.sys
Street Price
$4,650
$2399
$2,216
Reseller Price
$3.IBl)
$2,000
Warranty (# of years labor, parts)
ZL,2P
3L,3P
2L, 2P
Performance
Ultinet
Considering it runs at 300MHz and outperformed others with
333MHz processors, this one is a no-brainer.
Price/Performance
ELCO
It may not have all the latest gadgets, but it's a complete
300MHz Pentium II system for S2.000. No, it's not a typo.
CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998
LAB TEST
BHH
Mar. 99
Mar. 98 1
!tt-Packard
LCF Technology
Edge
Ultinet 1
on 8280
INET
KTX
1
Pentium II 333MHz
Pentium II 333MHz
Pentium II 333MHz
Pentium II SOOMHz
64MB tIDRAM
128MB SDRAM
128MB SDRAM
128MB SDRAM
1 ATIXpeit^PlayAGP
Diamond Viper V330 AGP
Matrox Millennium II PCI
Matrox Millennium II PCI
4MB SG.'iAM
4MB
SMB WRAM
BMBWRAM
None
None
None
None
Ensonlq 39
SB AWE64
SB AWEB4
SB AWE64
Maxtor
Quantum
Seagate
Quantum
SGBUDMA
4.3GB UDMA
4.SGBU-SCSI
8.4GB UDMA
Hitachi DVD'
Creative DVD
Mitsumi 32X
Panasonic 24X
K56Flex
USR 56K
None
USR SBX
Phoenix
Award
Award
AMI
Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95
Multimedia speakers
LS-12D drive
LS-120 drive
Adaptec 2940UW controller
1Z0W speakers
Diamond Monster 3D
Microphone
215
302
313
3D8
. 405
558
557
566
212
241
260
257
226
283
288
296
263
297
301
325
254
303
285
332
244
289
294
309
1-80D-387-38B7
(6041 303-9628
(905) 948-0000
1-800-513-7732
www.hp.com
www.lcf.com
www.edge.net.au
www.ultinet.ca
S3, 499
$3,370
S4,360
$3,199
$3,790
$3,099
2L. 2P
5L,2P
Overall
HP Pavilion 8280
The all-new Pavilion 8280 uses ihe latest technology, has good performance, and
comes with a slew of software unmatched by any of its competitors. CM
Steve Hatinda is Lab Test
Editor for Canadian Computer
Wholesaler. He can be reached
Mtp,/Avww.cewm«.«m March 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 45
COMPUTER TELEPHANY INTEGRATION
W o've been promised many limes
that computer telephony is about
to explode.
Consultant Jacob Gordon afTirms the
market is poised for big things. The president
of Toronto-based VoicePower says recent
innovations in CTl in multimedia call centres.
Intemei telephony, unified messaging, help
desk, speech technologies and. most impor-
tantly. the joining of forces by Microsoft and
Nortel iNorihem Telecom) augurs in new
possibilities at last.
Gordon is the organizer of the May CTI
World '98 Conference and Exposition in
Toronto, where Microsoft and Nortel planned
to demonstrate Nortel's Sympo.sium call cen-
tre product on Microsoft's Windows NT serv-
er operating system platform.
As the information technology and
telecommunications functions within many
enterprises begin to converge, and vendors
like Microsoft and Nortel start offering "a
common story" in their marketing, states
Gordon, "resellers will have the opportuni-
ty to leverage existing relationships with
customers."
Call centres, the most salable portion of
CTl, are still too vertical a market for most
VARs. Some of the solutions start at about
$4,000. But Gordon is confident this will
change now that Microsoft has started to take
this field more seriously. Both Microsoft and
Nortel are developing
partnerships with PC
resellers, which would
include the training of
staff for the new prod-
ucts. Recently available
CTl applications, com-
bining software and a
server, are the glue that
finally let computers
and telephone systems
talk to each other within
the enterprise. 'The
choice for resellers is
either to stay as a com-
puter VAR or extend
their knowledge."
Becau.se a fair
amount of customiza-
tion will be required in
any adoption of CTl
within a networked
environment, the role of
the reseller for specific
vertical markets like
retail and the financial
services will surely be
crucial, says Gordon.
How this will prac-
tically work for the PC reseller, already
expending great funds in the training of
staff in the latest computer technologies, is
still unclear.
In CTl. organizadons can either pur-
chase all the equipment and software and
have call centres set up on their premises.
This is called a customer premise equipment
solution. Or much like obtaining access to the
Web through an Internet service provider,
businesses could set up a call centre through
the services offered by one of the telephone
companies. The second scenario is a less
expensive solution and more likely to be
adopted by small-and-medium companies.
Gordon says resellers should be able to gel
involved in either scenario.
But Nortel's manager for Symposium,
Dorothy MacNeil. states quite firmly that in
non-customer premise equipment solutions
the service will be offered entirely by the
telco, as part of its suite of applications.
"There is no role for the reseller.”
Maybe the confusion lies in the fact that
in telecommunications, resellers play a more
limited role, compared to their counterparts in
the PC industry. The typical Norte! reseller
who sells phone systems, PBX switches, and
other products, says PC channels expert Bob
Pritchard, is handling a technology "that is
not very complex and is plug-in-and-play.”
On the other hand, a true computer VAR
offer.s services and custom development.
Another difference, according to the presi-
dent of the Kingston-based R.J. Pritchard &
Associates, is that in telecom, the reseller
must spend a lot of time talking to individual
users within an enterpri.se in order to deter-
mine the appropriate telephone system for
their jobs. In contrast. PC resellers do little of
that and are notoriously more adept at com-
municating with their motherboards than with
human beings.
In PC resellers' favor is the fact they par-
ticipate in an industry where open standards
are the norm, largely because of the ubiquity
of the networks. The arrival of the Internet
has only reinforced that trend.
But the complete oppo.sile is the case
within telecommunications where each man-
ufacturer carries its own proprietary brand of
telephone .switches. Nortel, for instance, is
always battling companies developing com-
patible products, says Pritchard. Also, in any
merging of organizations or reorganization,
“you might have two different kinds of
equipment, but you can’t roll two phone sys-
tems together."
Nortel’s MacNeil was asked about this
standards issue but her only reply was, “I
have no comment on the equipment of
competitors."
In addition, despite the publicity sur-
rounding convergence, information technolo-
gy and telephone systems are purchased by
different people within the enterprise.
"Resellers find they have to make two sets of
sales calls," adds Pritchard.
How products are bought in either soli-
tude also varies, says David Curley, vice-
president of product marketing and commu-
nication at the Kanaia, Ont.-based telephone
switch manufacturer, Mitel Corp. While cost
and resource management figure prominently
in the buying decisions surrounding telecom-
munications in the corporate market, he
notes, “it is hard to quantify savings" with the
adoption of computer syslems.
What all this comes down to is that few
companies on either side of the
computer/telecom divide “really understand
each other’s business," says John
Schumacher, vice-president for business
development at the Toronto-based CTI
developer, Genesys Laboratories Canada
Inc. But he dismisses the Microsoft/Norte!
announcement as nothing more than a mar-
keting agreement. Nonetheless once the
roadblocks have been removed in terms of
corporate cultures, he is optimistic that CTI
will usher in new levels of customer service
in the call centre market. The technology
exists, for instance, to segment and identify
callers considered part of the core clientele
for a company and give them specialized
services, not available to others. “It will be
a huge opportunity for resellers with data-
base skills."
Watching the slow and painful dance
between the PC and telecom people, the com-
ments of theorist Marshall McLuhan come to
mind. In the PC world we normally think of
“interface” as the phy.sical connection between
two processes. But the communications seer,
writing before personal computers were even
invented in 1951, relies on a more complex
definition used in chemistry. “Interface refers
to the interaction of substances in a kind of
mutual imtation." he wrote.
The mutual irritation will have to con-
tinue for a while. It is not likely that we will
see the formal merging of computers and tele-
phones anytime soon for the broad market of
home and business consumers, even though
technology exists to make that possible.
Economics sdll dictate that it is still cheaper
for the majority of people lo own a telephone
than a PC. Cm
Paul Weinberg is a Toronto journalist who
specializes in high-technology reporting. He
can be reached at pweinbg@intertog.co/n.
March 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 47
IN PROFILE
Canada's Eupocom
sees's^c^ss in
noteUmif^iiiche
of marketmj
top fiinctioaaTiijt''
m notebooks replace*
f desktop ai work, the
(^travelling notebook
e-presideni
Eurocom.
"We have a differSITfocus on desktop
replacement notebooks and we provide
extremely good service and support for cits-
tomers." added Mark Bialic. founder and
president of Eurocom.
Eurocom is tbe only Canadian company
to crack the top K) in notebook sales in the
country. The company tied for sixth in note-
book sales in Canada last year with a 2.9 per
cent market share, according to market
researchers Iniemaiional Data Corp. iCanada)
Ltd. in Toronto. George Bulat, manager of PC
research with IDC Catiadu, estimated that the
privately owned Eurocom had revenues of 550
million and that the company sold approxi-
mately 1 1.000 itniis in Canada hist year.
"We expect to doiibie our notebook sales
over the next 12 months," Bialic said. "Our
sales are going up 30 (percent) to 50 percent
yearly. Thai's an indication of our success."
In fact. Bialic sttid Eurocom is looking
to increase il.s sales in the United States and
the company hopes to open an office south of
the border as early as next year.
The coinpatty's sales are particularly
strong in Ontario, according to Buiat. He
added that, although Eurocom is a player in
the second tier of notebook sales behind the
likes ofToshiha, IBM. Compaq. Packard Bell
NEC and Dell the company still has a long
there with
Panasonic.
>D»fiitH*'nd AST: ' ' ■)
JJtit. aTacking inMThe'fiop tier won’t be
• tt 'htls more aggres-
Dell and moving into
the lop fivq. p<J»)J>. But tltey have a long
way to go befl^ they reach top three (sta-
tus)." Bulat sJil^"Eurocom is u niche player
in a niche m»Vei."
Aecortffng to Bard, the goal of the com-
pany is to offer the same standard features of
dSSktop computers in its line of notebooks.
Tbe notebooks can be upgraded with high-
speed prf>cessors and muilimediu capabilities.
All Eurocom notebooks are custom config-
ured. "We don't have specific model numbers
that refer to one pre-built unit.” Bard said.
Customers select the screen type they want
first and certain notebook features come stan-
dard with these displays, he said- The lowest
priced Eurocom notebook sells for approxi-
mately $2,401) and is configured with a
166MHz Pentium processor, 16MB RAM
and a 2.ICB hatxl drive. "You can pick the
CPU. ranging anywhere from a Pentium 166
with MMX all the way up to a 233MHz
(processor) with MMX." Bard said. "Hard
drives range from 2. IQB to 5.0CB and RAM
is anywhere from 16MB to 128MB."
Of course, the feature-packed notebooks
are heavier — with some closer to nine
pounds ill weight instead of the standard six
and-a-ltalf pound weiglii of many other note-
books. Bard said one of the key features of a
Eurocom notebook is its full-size keyboard.
Eurocom has been selling notebooks
exclusively since it was founded in 1989.
The company, which employ.s 20 people, has
its head office in Ottawa and another location
in Mississauga. Oni.
In January. Eurocom released its newest
high-end notebook — die 85(X)T5. It features
a 15.1-inch active matrix display, concurrent
operation of CD-ROM tuid a hard drive and
floppy drive. 4MB video RAM. a TV line in.
SVHS out and a 102-key keyboard with
numeric keypad.
Jim Alexopoulos is vice-president of
Microsource in Montreal, which has sold
Eurocom notebooks for approximately 10
years. He estimates his company sells 100
units each month. ‘They're in a special area
in the maricel," he said. “People consider
them laptops, but they're really desktop
replacement machines, (too)."
Joyce Gordon, a sales representative
with Comet Computer Center in Vancouver
agreed. Comet Computer Center has been
selling Eurocom notebooks since 1991. “As
much as any notebook could possibly be a
desktop replacement, theirs is (a desktop
replacement)," she said. “(Eurocom systems)
sell so wel] because they’re upgradable to
very high-end machines." she said.
People are interested in the oppotlunily
to upgrade their notebooks so they don't have
to replace them in six months. Gordon added.
"(Eurocom notebooks) have high-end proces-
sors and 3 lot of features built in fund ill
makes them a popular choice,’’ she said.
"They're also lower in price than name-brand
Toshibas. NECs and IBMs."
Although Comet Computer Center carries
name-brand notebooks. Gordon insists
Eurocom computers are better sellers. "People
come to us and we give diem altemadves.
Eurocoms are generally a lot less money for the
same horsepower, so. unless someone is set on
a name brand, they'll go fora Eurocom.” CM
4S CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER Msrch 1998 Mpj/wwwcavmdgi
E W S
IBM packages software,
services at ^98
by Grace Casselman
IBM Coqj. is serious about doing business with its channel partners —
that was the main theme at the recent IBM SPEC ’98 conference in
San Francisco, which drew more than 5,000 worldwide partners,
including 190 representatives of 120 Canadian companies, in fact, to
prove the point, in a videotaped address, chairman and CEO Louis
Gerstner said the company would invest US$780 million in the channel
this year on incremental resources, training and support for IBM part-
ners. 'I'hafs an increase of 20 percent over I997'5 investment, he said.
E-commerce was the big theme during the conference. IBM is
also getting serious about Windows NT; once the mortal enemy of
IBM's OS/2- IBM's partners needed to hear that message, said Robert
Freedman, co-founder of E-business .solution developer Spyre
Infostructure Inc. in Ottawa, as NT i.s becoming an important force in
the market-place.
“It's a wakc-up. IBM is .saying: 'We're moving to NT.'"
IBM announced it would offer three suites of NT-based software
to the market, starting in Q2. The Enterprise Suite (code-named
Bartholdi) is “designed to help large business integrate NT into enter-
prise .systems while they protect their investment in legacy systems,"
said Jocelyne Attal. vice-president Netfinity worldwide system sales,
IBM sales and di.stribution group. It includes: DB2 Connect for con-
nection between NT deskiop.s and data in DB2; the TXSeries for
development of secure reliable transactional application.s that can
incorporate Java and distributed objects; MQSeries as a messaging and
information backbone; Lotus Domino; DB2 Universal Database For
Workgroup; eNetwork Communications Server, ADSM, AMS; and an
install tool.
The Departmental Suite (code-named Emerald) includes: Lotus
Domino. DB2 Universal Database For Workgroup; eNetwork
Communications Server; ADSTAR Distributed Storage Manager;
Tivoli's Application Management Specification; and an install tool.
The Small Business Suite (code-named Rodin) include.s: Domino
Intranet Starter Pack. DB2 for Domino: small business templates for
customizing applications; a fax .server: and an install tool.
Thc bundles are currently in beta and pricing was not announced.
“I think it's great," said Freedman. "As an ISV, it enables us to
have a very quick ability to bundle our software, load and install it on
IBM hardware. -.It’s a very effective solution." Moreover, he stressed
that it's an important indication that IBM and its Lotus subsidiary are
integrating their technology and marketing efforts.
"It’s fairly significant," .said Scott Lawrence, manager of partner
development for Cognos Inc. in Ottawa. “IBM's putting some market-
ing teeth behind NT. And everyone's looking for this technology
approach of packaged solutions rather than building applications."
IBM also rolled out a slew of programs aimed at partners. For
example, substantial partner infonnaiion is now available at
hiip://wwK.(bm.com/Parinerlnfo/. IBM also launched something
called ServiceSuite for customers, which will be sold by partners.
ServiceSuite is a worldwide offering, but depending on the locations,
the package can include warranty and maintenance options, on-site
services, remote technical support, and recovery services.
Looking to the future, IBM Canada will work very closely with
the U.S. on North American programs and initiatives, said David
Dobson, general manager of channel and partner services at IBM
Canada Ltd. By the Year 20(X), the organization expects to roll out its
programs and services in one consolidated effort. "North America is a
reality we’re embracing. It's a global market-place.” For example, as
of June 1, the company will sell AS/400 products through distributors,
as Gales/ Anow, Business Partner Solutions and JBA have been given
North American distribution mandates for the products.
Grace Casselman is Editor of Canadian Computer Wholesaler. She
can he reached at gracec@neteom.cv.
snpy/Wwwccwmd, t
March 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 49
ASIASCAPE
Canada's Teleglobe
to open office in Thailand
Canada's Teleglobe opened its sixth Asian
office in Thailand in February. From the
Bangkok representative office. Teleglobe will
offer its full range of .services, including
switched and non-swilched voice and data
services, broadcast, calling cards and private
lease to carriers, ISPs and multinational cor-
porations within the region.
“We are very excited about the Thailand
market and its opportunities, even in the cur-
rent economic downturn,” .said Rick Ciccone,
Teleglobe's vice-presi-
dent and general man-
ager, Europe and Asia
Pacific, “Thailand's tele-
' communications market
will be deregulating.
This will provide for significant expansion of
Year 2000 will cost Bangkok Bank USS3.5 million
Bangkok Bank has set aside US$3.53 million
in budget funds for tackling the year 2000
problem, however, “the number i.s optimistic,”
according to Bangkok Bank executive vice-
president Dr. Cholivid Chayavadhanangkur.
USS1.86 million will be spent on hard-
ware and software and US$1.67 million will
be for “people-ware” investment, he said.
The high budget doe.s not mean that the
problem is complicated, but extensive, he
said, adding that it needs human resources and
budget funds. As a result, executives need to
have an awareness and let IT departments
deliver solutions.
Bangkok Bank has set up a Y2K com-
mittee as a project management team and a
working group team. The committee is
chaired by the executive director while the
team is comprised of five members from lop
executives in computer-related fields.
Around 95 per cent of computer opera-
tions will need to be fixed, converting two-
digit year formats to four digit year formats,
he said. However, non-computer areas, such
as PABX.s, building administration, elevators,
UPSes. air-conditioning units and vaults, will
have to be compliant with the year 2000 as
well, he said.
He added there was no need to worry
about financial Funs and banks and whether
they would be retidy for the Year 2(K)0 since
they have had to follow regulations from the
Bunk of Thailand and the Bank Association
of Thailand, which state that .solutions to the
problem must be completed by the first quar-
ter ofl999.
Matsushita adds single-chip MPEC2 video encoder
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. has announced the development of I
a complete MPE02 video encoder on a single LSI (large scale integrated I
circuit) chip- The new chip is targeted at devices lliat record real-time
video in a digital fonn. such as digital video cameras and future DVD Video recorders.
As conventional MPE02 video encoders typically consist of several chips, the new device
means manufacturers can save both space and power. It consumes 950 milliwatts when processing
MPEG2 video. 360 milliwatts when proce-ssing MPEG I video and has u chip sire of one square
centimetre. This is especially important for handheld devices such as digital video cameras.
Special features include different operation modes, such as high-resolution mode or low
the telecommunications sector with lower power mode, and complete processing of MPEG2 video using the LSI and two 16-mcgabit
SDRAM memory chips. Matsushita said samples of the device will be available from June 1998.
priced at US$162.
prices, improved service quality and more
choice of telecom suppliers."
Other Teleglobe offices in Asia are in
Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, the Phil-
ippines and Australia.
NEC opens new Philippines
Electronics components plant
NEC Corp. and its NEC Components
fhilippines, Inc. (NEC-CPI) subsidiary have
opened a new electronic components plant in
the I^ilippines.
It will manufacture highly integrated
printed wiring boards and power relay prod-
ucts, said NEC. Monthly production is set at
13,000 square metres for the print-
ed wiring boards and 1.2 million
units for the relays. The additional
investment is intended to push
monthly production to 20,000
square metres for PWBs and 3.5
million units for relays.
Hitachi, Mitsubishi and Tl halt ICb DRAM project
The plans of Hitachi, Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Texas In.struments to jointly develop
IGb DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chip have been pul on hold,
A spokesman for Hitachi .said the project has been delayed for about a year, because of the
poor conditions in the semiconductor market. “1Gb DR AMs are next, next-generation products.
Al present, each company would like to concentrate more on products that will be marketed
sooner." he explained. “We are still jointly working together, it's just a little delay."
The three partners had originally scheduled the start of the next stage in the project for this
spring, although this will now be started in spring 1999, the official said.
Fujitsu to build USS200 million media plant in Philippines
Fujitsu Limited Is set to begin construction of a new aluminum media plant at the First
Philippine Industrial Park Ecozone in Tanauan, Batangas in May. Investment
for the first three years is pegged at US$200 million.
The facility will be built on a 2l)-heciare land area and is .seen to pro-
vide critical support for Fujitsu’s Canlubang (Laguna) factory, which is fast
becoming a strategic hard disk drive production facility. Fujitsu currently
produces hard disk drives and magneto-resistive (MR) heads in its
Canlubang plant.
50 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998 srio/w.«wmaflco
ASIASCAPE
C. clown slightly from the 69 per cent forecast before
Asian Internet
outlook is healthy
Despite the fall of Asia's currencies
and the economic woes that have
beset the region since July 1997, the
number of Internet users in the Asia
Pacific is continuing to grow at an
almost unchanged rate, according to
market research firm IDC.
It announced that the com-
pound annual growth rate for
Inlemel users between 1995 and
2001 is now expected to be 63 per ci
July 1997.
Several regional markets are expected to sec the total number of Internet users at the
end of 1 998 at twice the levels they arc currently.
The largest problem facing regional ISPs at pre.scnt is the devaluation of regional cur-
rencies. The leased lines that service providers use to connect to the North American
Internet backbone are priced in U.S. dollars so the price, in local currency, has risen by
several times over the last year.
In specific regional markets. IDC
found the number of new users has
slowed in Thailand. Government ini-
tiatives, such as the abolition of floor-
pricing charges by the Comm-
unications Authority of Thailand, arc
expected to help the nation achieve
positive growth in 1998 through lower
prices for end users and a better oper-
ating environment for service
providers, .said IDC.
Mitsublshi Electric
embroiled in payoff scandal
Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and several affiliated
companies were thrown into the centre of a new
payoffs scandal a.s it was alleged that the compa-
nies made illegal payoffs to a "sokaiya," or corpo-
rate racketeer.
Miuubishi Elecunc and Miisubi.shi Estate Co.
arc alleged to have paid Taichiro Olakc .substantial
amounts of money in return for the smcxjlh running
of their annual shareholders meetings. Such pay-
ments are prohibited by Japan’s Commercial Code.
Japanese media repoas said both companies
have admitted making the payoffs. The payments
were made between 1995 and 1997 and apparently
disguised as fees for running advertisements in the
magazine published by the Shibuya, Tokyo-based
"Japan Stewardess College. " which is run by
Otake's wife, Misao.
Hitachi announces
128Mb memory chips
Hitachi Ltd. has announced four new
128Mb memory chips, the indu.siry’s
first such devices, according to the
company.
The chips include 1 28Mb EDO
DRAMs (dynamic random access mem-
ory) and synchronous DRAMs.
The new chips are intended for use
in personal computers and engineering
workstations and were available in sam-
ple quantities last month, said Hitachi. It
manufactured the chips by molding two
64Mb DRAM chips together.
The EDO DRAM chips have an
access time of 60ns while the S-DRAM
chips support a PC 66MHz memory
bus. cm
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BOOK REVIEW
Lafore Does
Master Job
C++ Course
by Stephen Iharaki
Keeping curreni wiih Java. ActiveX. C++, and Visual Basic 5 always
poses a challenge- Now. if only your customers could take courses that
fit into their schedule. Does this sound familiar?
An available solution exists. The “C++ Interactive Course." is
one of a host of new titles that allow on-line interaction over the bur-
geoning Internet.
Robert Lafore's updated entry provides a solid foundation in
C++. Written in a humorous and engaging style, the book works for
both new and professional programmers-
Are you or your clients C programmers wanting to upgrade tind
bored with the same old C to C++ discussions? Take notice! Only a
third of this book will be review. To avoid “bad habits." the book begins
and then continues with object-oriented concepts and examples.
Tutorial in nature, each chapter breaks into smaller sessions that
cover one major topic. Exercises and a quiz complete each .session pro-
viding excellent reinforcement- In attempt to make the language less
intimidating, the early sessions are quick and ea.sily digestible with
"C++ still lets you get closer to the hardware,
so it will probably go on forever for sys-
tems programming, and for people who
don't like Java for one reason or another."
— Roheri Laforc
lessons increasing in complexity as you progress. You can complete
each one of the 96 sessions in less than 75 minutes. An interesting and
unique dialogue amongst fictitious programmers provides sum-
maries — very effective, and innovative. They help to illustrate essen-
tial points and answer questions. Both students and professionals react
favorably to Robert's books, but this one heightens your interest- A
rare attribute in programming books with substantive content.
Object Orientation Is Inevitable
An interview with Robert Lafore,
author of C++ Interactive Course.
CCW: Where is the object-oriented paradigm leading in two, five and
lOyaars?
I think object orientation will almost completely replace the pro-
cedural paradigm, ifit hasn't already. It’s a natural evolutionary
step in program organization, and there aren't too many rea-
sons not to take advantage of Its benefits, except perhaps in
certain niche situations.
There's probably somedting lurking on the horizon, the next thing
after OOP, but I have no idea what it might be. In any case, it'll
take people a while to learn how to fully exploit OOP
CCW: In general, where are programming languages evolving?
I keep waiting for a visual approach to replace text-based
source code. This has already happened in programming GUIs
IGraphIcs User Interfaces), but it should be possible to program
the logic parts pf the program visually as well, by dragging
boxes and lines around the screen. But so far no one has come
up with a widely accepted architecture.
CCW: How do you see C++ evolving as compared to Visual Basic and
Java? What defines the language choice for projects?
I think Java is terrific. It’s a somewhat higher-level language
than C++, with a lot of advantages. For instance, most people
find It a great relief to stop worrying about pointers.
On the other hand, C++ still lets you get closer to the hardware,
so it will probably go on forever for systems progremming, and
for people who don't like Java for one reason or another. Visual
Basic still hss some performsnee limitations, hut for many
hnp /Mww ccwmpg com
52 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998
BOOK REVIEW
The initial chapters lead the
reader gently into object-oriented
programming with an excellent
overview and introduction — the
best treatment of the topic I have
ever seen. The reader advances
into constructors, operator over-
loading. inheritance, and point-
ers. Completing the book are
chapters on streams and files,
templates, and exceptions. The
u.seful appendices include Stan-
dard Template Library (STL)
algorithms, member functions,
and a di.scussion of using BOR-
LAND C++ and Microsoft
Visual C++- A companion CD
contain.s all programming lessons and examples. Uncommon in most
programming texts, Lafore makes good use of meaningful analogies
and diagrams to clarify every point.
Now. comes the Internet twist- The book includes enrollment in
the eZone — a complete Web-based Internet learning centre. As you
work through hands-on sessions, you can log on to the eZone to ask
questions, examine a database of frequently asked questions (FAQs).
and browse reference material. You can also write the quizzes on-
line. exchange commenls with oth-
ers, earn a certificate of achieve-
ment, and receive Continuing
Education Units (CEU) from
Marquette University. There are
some "caveats” here. You are lim-
ited os to the number of quesiion.s
you can ask the mentor. Internet
Web site over-activity can lead to
long wait times or time-outs, and
CEUs come with a price tag.
However, the on-line connection
does show promise.
In summary, the book ranks
high in readability and technical
content. It can serve as an excellent
textbook, tutorial, and reference
for anyone wanting a thorough foundation in C++ programming. The
on-line aspecl will gel better with lime, but do not buy or recommend
the book just for this feature. The $70.95 price tag is a little steep but
Justifiable for the superb contcni and writing style. QVi
Stephen /haraki. ISP. is a lecliirer. writer, advisor and co-convenor for
the BADM Compuling Program at Capilano College, which has won a
number qfinternalioiial. national and provincial hmum/.s. He is Novell
NEAP and Microsoft AATP-cerli/ied and can be reached at sibamki
@capcollege.bc.ca.
Title: C++ Intersclive Course
Author Robert Lafore
Publisher Waite Group Press
ISBN: 1-571S9-063-8
Content 675 pages with enclosed CD-ROM
Level: Beginning to Intermediate
Cost S70.95
Description: This C++ tutarlal/reference book is one in a series of new
interactivB thies. Through short lessons, end Internet exchanges,
die reader will gain e solid foundstion in C++ programming.
Rating: A+ — Recommended for all new and experienced programmers
wishing to move to Object-Oriented programming using C++.
small-scale projects it's fun and easy to program, and much
faster than C++ and Java.
Now... there's a standard for C++... That's good. Having a stable
platform to work on is qu'ta a luxury. At this point, Java is any-
thing but a stable platform.
CCW: What led you Into this field?
In the late 1970s, I Invented Interactive Fiction, littie stories in
which the reader could interact with fictional characters and
influence the outcome of the story. They ran on the Radio Shack
TRS-80 and the Apple II, so they were rather limited by disk and
memory sizes.
They sold all right for a while, but eventually the novelty wore
off and I needed a new career. About this time I met Mitch
Waite, and we co-authored a book on CP/M (if anyone remem-
bers that OS). I found I really enjoyed explaining things, and I've
been writing computer books ever since.
CCW: four writing style is engaging and often humorous. 'This keeps
the readers attention. What motivated and started you into tak-
ing this approach?
I've always had a weird sense of humor, and Mitch reinforced
it He went on to become my publisher (Waite Group Press, now
a subsidiary of MacMillan Publishing Comoany). He was always
reading my stuff and telling me, "Make it funnierl" I think it's
true that a little humor makes the reading easier because it
makes the text a littie more memorable. Text thafs too dry
makes the reader’s eyes glaze over.
On the other hand, there's always a danger in trying to be
funny. One of my books had a line like "Now that you've mas-
tered this topic, treat yourself to a cookie, or perhaps a stiff
shot of bourbon." Pretty soon I got a call from a college in
Louisiana. The lady said they'd like to use my book in their pro-
gramming class, but were afraid this sentence would damage
the students’ morals.
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March 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 53
BUSINESS BASICS
by Douglas Gray
As a resEller. you'll proba-
bly require bonk rinaneing
t certain times. As you
know, banks tend to be
conservative and risk-
averse by nature. They
certainly don’t have a ven-
-e capiliilisi mindset. To
maximize the chance of a successful outcome
in your initiatives to borrow money, here is an
overview of the dynamics of the process.
Wh«l Tn«f Lender Wants
Once you start negotiating with the financial
institution, you must sell the lender on the
merits of your bu.sines.s proposal. As in all
sales presentations, consider the needs and
“Remember that everything
is negotiable."
expectations of the other parly — in this case,
the loans officer. A loans officer will be inier-
asted in the following:
• Your familiarity with the business con-
cept and the realilie.s of the marketplace, as
reflected in your business plan.
• Your ability to service and pay hack the
debt with sufficient surplus ui cover contin-
gencies. including interest charges, so that
you eventually repay the debt in full. This
would be demonstrated in your cash flow
forecast and projected income statements.
• Your ability to provide security to the
bank for the loan.
• Your level of commitment as shown by
your equity in the business or cash invest-
ment in the particular asset being pur-
• Your secondary source of repayment,
including security in the event of default or
other problem, and other sources of
income.
• Your reasons why the money is needed
and how long you need it for, and how
much you need.
• Your track record and integrity, as
.shown in your personal credit history, your
business plan, and business results or past
business experience.
* Your businesslike approach. During the
loan interview, remember that you are
doing business, just like when you are with
a eustomer. Don't be subservient, overly
familiar, or too aggressive. Remember, a
lender is in business for the .same reason
you are — to make a profit, and to mini-
mize or eliminate bad debts.
* Your judgement in supplying informa-
tion. Be sensible with the number of doc-
uments you provide at the outset. You do
not want to overwhelm the loans officer
with material. For example, if the amount
request is small, an introductory page and
summary of your business plan provide a
good enough basic loan submission,
though you should have all
the other documents prepared
and available in case they arc
requested.
• Your personal appear-
ance. You should pre-sent
yourself in a manner that projects self-con-
fidence and success.
■ Your consideration in allowing suffi-
cient lead time for approval. The lender
needs a reasonable time to a.sses.s your pro-
posal. Also, the loan may have to be
reviewed at another level within the finan-
cial institution.
* Your credit rating. It’s a good idea to
review your credit ruling periodically, us
there may be errors or blemi.shes to correct
in your file. Note your positive and nega-
tive points, so you can di.scuss these when
raised by the lender.
Why Buslne»i Loam
Are Turned Down
There are various factors at play il' the lender
turns down your loan application. Common
rea.sons are: outside bank policy, busineics idea
considered too risky or unsound, insufficient
collateral or business experience in the indus-
try. Other reasons include: perceived lack of
financial commiunent, poor business plan or
credit rating or the purpose of the loan is not
explained or unacceptable. Another influenc-
ing factor could be an inexperienced or overly
loans ofTiccr with a low credit
54 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998 nnpv»Wwra
approval limit. This would ncce.ssitate other
people passing judgement on your loan appli-
cation without you meeting them in most
ca-ses. Always try to ensure that the loans offi-
cer you are dealing with has the final approval
authority for your loan limit needs.
Steps When Your Financing
Becomes Approved
If your request for financing is approved, find
out everything you need to know about the
conditions, terms, payment methods, interest
rates, security requirements, and any other fees
to be paid — assuming you have not already
negotiated these factors. You normally receive
a business loan commitment letter detailing
this. If noL ask for one. No decision to accept
the financing should be made until all this
information is provided and understood. You
may wish to ask your accountant and lawyer to
assist you in the loan application in advance
and to review the bank's approval. If you are
not completely satisfied with the loan package,
check out the competition. Also remember that
everything is negotiable. Look on the
loan/security offer from the bank a.s the start-
ing point for negotiated improvements to
improve the package to your benefit.
In summary, remember that you are try-
ing to convince the lender of three important
• That your loan application is for a
worthwhile purpose and the funds are suf-
ficient to accomplish your business
objectives.
• That you have the ability, integrity, and
commitment to make your busincs.s a viable
one, and the management skills or access to
those .skills to make it a profiurble one.
• That the loan can be repaid out of the
normal operational activities of the busi-
ness on a realistic cash How basis, and the
bank will not have to sell the assets that
you have pledged as security. II*
Douglas Gray. LL.B.. formerly a practising
lawyer, is a Vancouver-hwied speaker, consul-
tant, columnist and author of 16 hest-selling
business books, including The Complete
Canadian Smalt Business Guide, published
hy McGraw-Hill Ryerson.
WORKING THE WEB
How Does
^iDUTi^ou?
Web pages coniaining MIDI sound files are
likely raiher familiar.
For your page, or for your clienLs’ site,
there arc a few ways to enhance a page with
sound — without making the page .sound like
a vintage video game gone haywire.
Resellers can benefit from new sound
editing .software, by adding a splash of sound
to Web pages, as well
as being able to offer
packages for resale to
Sound Editing
A number of packages
are available for sound
manipulation, editing,
and compression, such
as Sound Forge and
Cool Edit Pro.
FVeviously avail-
able as a shareware program, the final version
of Cool Edit Pro (Suggested retail: US$399 —
hr>p:/Avww. synlrillium.com/pro.hlm) is now
shipping, offering plug-in support for
AcliveMovie and DirectX. MIDI triggering
and 64-channel mixing.
One of the most respected sound editing
suites now is Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge
software package (Suggested retail; US$495
— hirp://nw\'.sonicfouiulry.com/SounJFoiye/
defuuh.himl). Among a long list of features,
this software package supports DirectX.
MIDI and AVI.
Both of these programs support most
common sound file types as well as conver-
sion from one type to another. These files can
then he used right on a Web page (embedding
the commonly-used .wav file format will pop
up an associated player, or for subsequent
export to a RealAudio encoder.
Cet Real
By far the most common way to add sound to a
set of Web pages is by using Progressive
Networks' Real Audio format. Real Audio
iscapable of playing back encapsulated snip-
pels of sound, or of encoding a live sound
.source for virtually live playback over the 'Net-
Using the RealEncoder program avail-
able for free download at the Web site
(http://tvww.reai. com/tncoder/index.html).
common .sound files are converted and saved
in the Real Audio format Any Web page can
feature links to streaming audio, without
requiring the expense of a server. Encoding
can be optimized for a variety of different
connection speeds, including ISDN, which
provides near-CD quality playback.
For a slight investment.
Progressive Networks also
offers a program called
RealPublisher (Suggested
retail: USS50 — hup://
www.real.com/publisher/
index.html), a package which
integrates the sound files
with the page creation, and
supervises uploading to the
Web server.
_ encoder, the
RealPlayer itself is free for
download (hllp://www. real.com/producls/
piayer/index.html), but is also available for
retail sale as RealPlayerPlus. with a few more
goodies thrown in. (Suggested retail: US$30
— hllp://www.reat.com/producls/ptayerplus/
index.html).
Integrating it All
The easiest way of getting sound onto a Web
page is to make it a click-through link, which
will call up the appropriate application on the
user's browser. For a more seamless integra-
tion though, the <EMBED> tag seems to be
the way to go. (RealAudio doesn't appear to
easily support inlining at this point).
A typical embedding tag for a sound file
would look something like:
<EMBED SRC=”blah.wav”
AUTOSTART=TRUE HIDDEN=FALSE
1.00P=TRUE>
by Sean Carruthers
The formal is actually pretty self-
explanatory. The AUTOSTART option
determines whether the sound will start play-
ing immediately upon loading, or wait for the
user to start it. HIDDEN will make the endre
player invisible (not a good idea if
AI;T0START=FALSE!), which is a way of
giving the illusion of a 'background' sound.
Setting 1-OOP to 'TRUE' will cause the
sound to — well, loop.
Homebrew Real Audio
Contrary to popular belief, you don't need an
expensive piece of equipment to deliver
RealAudio in a simple manner. Those users
planning on delivering a lot of su^aming
audio will probably need a proper hard-
ware/software package to handle the load, but
for the casual user, the tools necessary are
generally no more complicated than a text
editor and the free encoder program:
1. Encode the source sound file using
RealEncoder and save with the .ra file
extension.
2. Upload the .ra file to the Web directory.
3. Create a second file, text-only, which
contains nothing but the full address of the
RealAudio file, without HTML
tags.
4. Instead of linking the sound
file itself from the Web page
you want to point to the sound
file, link to the text file. This
will redirect the RealAudio
player to the location of the
real sound file, but will cause it
to 'stream' back through the
text file.
5. This is the tricky one: ensure that your
Web server can handle RealAudio recog-
nition and redirection. If this method
Isn't working, most times it can be fixed
by adding one or two lines to the MIME
types file on the server. Consult with
your ISP if you’d like thi.s done. 10*1
Sean Carruthers does H'eb consulting for
Armchair Airlines Computer Services
(http://www.armchair.mb.ca) in Brandon,
Man. He can be reached at oneiros@
armchair.mb.ca.
httpMwww ccwmeg.co
March 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER
WDM Drivers
Bui while ihese nexi gcncrpiion operating systems provide some
answers, they al.so raise a new set of questions. Microsoft has promised
that Windows 9S and NT 5.0 will share a common hardware device dri-
ver model. The Windows Device Model (WDM) will let hardware
developers write a single driver usable by both the mass-market
Windows 98 and the high-end NT 5.0 operating systems.
But there's a catch. WDM drivers should work happily on
machines running either of Micntsofi's next generation systems, but
will be incompatible with the installed base — 100 million-s machines
running Windows 95 (as well as the several million running NT 4.0).
And many if not most of the users in that installed base will not be in
a rush to upgrade to Windows 98. at least not until they purchase a
new machine that comes with the operating system included.
We're in a transition period.
In past columns, we've looked at up and com-
ing gizmos and gadgets designed to overcome the
bottlenecks and design limitations that plague cur-
rent hardware. A collection of three-letter
acronyms that taken together can easily leave the
head spinning: USB. DVD. AGP and more (as
w'ell as the thankfully acronym-less FireWire).
We've seen how many of these advances have stalled. The hard-
ware's ready (mostly), but until the next generation of operating sys-
tem releases, there's no built-in support. With few products on the
shelves, there's little consumer demand. And with little consumer
demand, few products make it to the shelves.
As well, the products that are nut haven’t been entirely over-
whelming.
Despite promising blazing video speeds, for example, the first
generation of Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) video cards have
been only modestly faster than the PCI cards they aim to replace.
First-generation Digital Video/Versatile Disk players are unable to
read the gold CD disks made by increasingly popular CD-
Recordable units (some newer DVD models no longer have (ha( lim-
itation). Universal Serial Bus performance has been as slow as the
product's acceptance.
56 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998 fjnpsfW-iv.cewm^,
TECHNOLOGY
You can develop old-style Windows 95 drivers. These will con-
tinue to work with Windows 98, but won't work with NT 4.0
or 5-0-
If you’re producing hardware add-ins (sound cards, video cards,
and the like), or are distributing such products, this is a dilemma. For
your new products, should you develop WDM
drivers, for the new Windows 98/NT 5-0 users?
Should you develop backwards-compatible
Windows 95 drivers? Should you play it safe
and develop both (at double the cost?)
Larger companie.s with deeper pocket.s
will probably play it safe. Creative Labs, for
example, is promising to follow that strategy
(though Windows 3-1 holdouts will increasingly
he out of luck). Universal Serial Bu.s products
from smaller companies may include WDM
drivers only, on the rca.sonable assumption that
few Windows 95 users actually have USB ports. Add-in cards made
for the legacy ISA bus may continue to include classic Win95 drivers
only, leaving NT users with complaints, just as now.
All in ail, not a pretty picture.
In January, we looked at Microsofl/Intel's PC98 plans — an out-
line of where the two giants want to move the industry. Ultimately,
they'd like to see us all abandon the 1984-era ISA bus. dropping
support for those familiar I6-bii cards that with their limited IRQ
numbers and non-intuitive installation make it difficult to implement
real PC Plug and Play, and drive up support costs.
LPC Specification
Intel has released .some specifications aimed at helping product man-
ufacturers during the transition. Its Low Pin Count interface (LPC —
here's yet another three-letter acronym!) is designed to make it easy
to redesign motherboards to move traditinnal components like paral-
lel. serial, and keyboard ports, along with hard disk and floppy disk
controllers off the ISA bus. (Even though most motherboards now
have these devices built-in, they're currently actually part of the ISA
bus).
National Semiconductor ha? used the LPC specification to
releu.se Its PC87360 Super I/O chip, integrating all those devices,
resulting in lower cost while taking up Ic.ss space. Future LPC prod-
uct.? will include memory and system management controllers, along
with motherboard-based sound circuitry.
Intel envisions u three-phase transition along the way to replac-
ing the ISA bus. First, current motherboard devices will migrate from
ISA to LPC, while systems retain the ISA bus for compatibility with
legacy peripheral devices (most often sound cards and modems). In
the second phase, as USB and FireWire devices become more com-
mon, systems will drop the ISA bus entirely, with users adding PCI
cards internally, or using USB and FireWire for external device,?.
Finally, as a wide-range of external peripherals such as printers
become available for the new external ports, support for legacy par-
allel and serial ports will be dropped entirely.
LPC is, according to Intel, a key step along the way. It allows
system designers to upgrade existing designs with relatively minor
modifications, while upgrading performance. The ISA bus runs at a
leisurely 8MHz, while LPC uses the PCI bus’s 33MHz clock. Us
reduced pin count saves on space and power, and runs cooler, mak-
ing It especially attractive to notebook designers. In InfoWorld,
Intel's Platform Component division marketing manager, Jan Camps
claims LPC “will result in lower costs and improved efficiency for
hardware OEMs and developers, and make the benefits of higher-
performing technologies available more quickly for PC users. Intel
has opened the specification so the industry can quickly adopt the
technology and integrate it into motherboard legacy I/O peripheral
development."
Technology pushes change. Despite our sense of constant product
obsolescence, however, the very success of the personal computer
has created a huge installed ba.se that is demanding gradual evolu-
tion. These contradictions require careful planning from designers,
manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors down to retailers and
ultimately end-users. Know where the industry is heading, and you'll
be able to manage the coming transitions. ItW
Alan Zisman is a computer journalist and teacher, living in
Vancouver. He can be reached at azisman@rogers.wave.ca.
Attention VARs, Resellers and Dealers.
Your new source for PC Software.
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“WDM drivers should work happily on machines run-
ning either of Microsoft's next generation systems, but
will be incompatible with the installed base — 1 00 mil-
lion-h machines running Windows 95 (as well as the
several million running NT 4.01."
hiipyMwv.ccwmag i
March 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 57
PRODUCTS
neui
PRODUCTS
BeyondTV hits Canada
ViewCall Canada Inc. of Winnipeg has
launched BeyondTV — what it calls 'Net-
connected television. Using the TV and a
5400 set-lop box.
Cisco launches multi-service
access concentrator
Cisco Systems Canada Ltd. of Toronto, !
announced the Cisco MC.1810 multi-service acc
concentrator. It's designed for regional and branch I
office application.s, and Integrates Cisco ISO software I
routing with compressed, switched voice and video [
applications (such as distance education across ATM I
and Frame Relay). Cisco MC3810
The MC3810 operates In both public or private
network environments, on facilities from 56Kbps to 2.048Mbps. The base system includes
Cisco lOS software, serial. LAN and analog voice pons supporting G.729 voice compression
and fax with a Frame Relay trunk. Pricing starts at $6,146.
Call: (4161 216-RQOO.
users have access i
Web services and
the Web.
The service
costs $29.95 per
month, and includes
five E-mail address-
es. For more infor-
mation, sec Imp://
Personal Income tax software race is on
HomeTax, which was the first to mariiel with the release of its 1998
personal income tax software in late December of 1997. is in a race
with SoftKey's CANTAX 98.
HomeTax, a highly rated lax program, has a suggested list price of ^
$29.95, minus a $5 mail-in rebate, it features a new. redesigned task-
oriented u.ser interface, and well-integrated on-line help and mullimc-
dia tutorials, and advice from financial consultant Brian Costello.
CANTAX. with a suggested retail price of $36.95. offers an
interactive interview feature, interview Plus, and interactive lips and
tutorials by lax expert Evelyn Jacks. According to Garry Kalinski of
CANTAX. Interview Pius "lakes taxpayers from the basic T4 slip for
individuals to a small business situation, creating a customized sce-
nario for a cross-section of lax situations."
Sec hlip://wmv.canlax.c t>m or luip://H'ww.homelax.com.
Disney offers Hades' Challenge
Disney Interactive has released its latest CD-ROM title, an
interactive adventure and puzzle game based on the char-
acters of the Mouse Factory’s latest animated feature,
Hercules. Hades' Challenge is a lavishly animated game
aimed at children from seven to 12 years of age. which
features the voice talents from the film (including actors
James Wood, Rip Tom. Matt Frewer, Tate Donovan and
Bobcat Goldthwaite) adding dramatic impact to a quest
that lakes the player across Ihe ancient Mediterranean
world, from Troy to Ihe Underworld. The game has more
than 5.0{X) drawings of original Disney character animation which
brings life to a series of brain leasing puzzles and a mythological quiz
show: the Hades Challenge.
Disney Interactive titles have consistently been among the most
popular in the family retail entertainment market in Ihe past few years.
price of about $40. Hades' Challenge is intended to be a
'discretionary purchase.' often picked up by u parent as a low-risk
choice for the family. Hade.s' Challenge comes in a dual Windows
95/Mac formal.
Call: IHI8) 553-5010.
PictureTel upgrades
videoconferencing systems
On Jan, 22. PictureTel Corp., the leader in the global videoconferenc-
ing market, has announced substantial upgrades in the performance
of two of its leading videoconferencing systems, SwifiSilc and
Venue. Both systems are now multi-location compatible
(meaning multiple users can conference at once, not Just two),
utilizes higher dula rale speeds between users, and offers
dynamic bimdwidlh allocation, all of which makes for high qual-
ity, multi-user capability.
Enhancements to the Venue 2000 product include LimcLighl.
an aulomaled speaker locating feature (which cau8c.s the video
camera to focus on whoever is currently speaking). Automatic
speaker location enables users to operate 'hands free,' since they no
longer have to manually point and focus the camera on each
speaker in a roomful of people.
Conlacl: (905) 474-4334.
58 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1993 r.tro/-wmvrcwi»9,
REX PC Companion to debut in Canada
On Feb. 24, Franklin Electronic Publishers launched the REX PC
Companion device in the Canadian market. The REX is a 1.4-ounce
credit-card sized device that gives the user a powerful, visually ori-
ented. easily updated database tool. REX
PC has been a hit at recent computer
shows, including the Las Vegas Comdex
last November, and has won a number of
industry awards.
See hUp://w\vK\franklin.vom.
IBM adds servers for
small/medium businesses
IBM Canada Ltd. has rolled out NetFinity,
AS/400e and RS/6(H)0 systems aimed as
servers for small and medium-sized busi-
less. with starting prices ranging from $3,999
$29,280.
The systems are expected to support envi-
ronments of between three and hundreds of
isers. says IBM. F'or more information, sec
hllp://\mv:.ibm.com/sen<ers.
PRODUCTS
Symantec and Archer Enterprixe Systems
team up for sales force automation
On Feb- 5, Toronlo-based Archer Enterprise Systems Inc. and
Symantec Canada held a Joint press briefing to announce the release
of an integrated soles force automation system that links the popular
ACT! conluct management program to enterprise databases. The new
product, partly subsidized by XDL Inc., an investment company hood-
ed up by ex-Delrina executives, is aimed at those of the 1.2 million
users of ACT! software who are part of medium to large enterprises,
but who are limited to standalone use of ACT! Over 6.000 corpora-
tions are registered ACT! users, and the new Archer product will allow
those corporations to have full access to and control over their
employees' ACT! files. This will enable much more productive use of
the information, allowing individuals' files to be integrated into mas-
sive databases for data mining and coordination of marketing efforts,
for example.
According to industry estimates, only about 12 percent of poten-
tial sales force automation users currently ore equipped with some
kind of computerized sales force system, aad many of the systems cur-
rently in use arc extremely expensive, proprietary and complex to
administer. This offers the prospect of rapid growth to a system which
Archer claims is inexpensive, standardized, and whose data entry
front end (ACT!) is already in very widespread use. The initial release
of a version of the Archer product which is compatible with ACT! 3.0
has been announced, and an ACT! 4.0 version is expected in the first
half of 1998.
Contact hup:/Ai-ww.anher.corn.
Smart & Friendly Inc. has launched
high-speed multi-read CD-ROM towers
(NB) — CD-ROM servers are being used increasingly in corporate net-
working environments for storage. Now Smart and Friendly Inc. is
shipping a line of 32X multi-read CD-ROM lowers for laige and small
local area networks (LANs) and enterprise systems.
The company says its CD-ROM towers provide high-speed online
storage for applications or data, and are configured with four, seven, or
14 multi-read drives.
The CD-ROM lowers include network CD-ROM software from
Omelix and MediaPath,
They include 1 0-uscr licences for CD- Vision and CD-Commandcr
from Ornctix Network Products and 60-user licences for MediaAgcnt
from MediaPath Technologies. CD- Vision reportedly creates a dedicat-
ed CD-ROM server on Novell and Microsoft networks, and improves
network performance by off-loading all CD-ROM traffic from the main
server and client workslulions.
MediaAgeni provides CD-ROM administration features and
works independently of all network operating systems. A Microsoft
Explorer plug-in. McdiaAgent uses the Windows interface to give
users icon-based access to any CD-ROM on the network as if it were
a local drive.
Estimated street prices of the .standard versions of the Smart and
Friendly 32x CD-ROM network towers are USSSd.S (four drives)
and USS1.325 (seven drives). The deluxe versions, which include
locking doors, are priced at US$1,599 (seven drives) and US$3,199
(14 drives).
Compaq Canada cuts system prices
(NB) — Compaq Canada Inc. has cut prices on a.ssortcd notebook and
desktop personal computers.
The company said it marked down die prices on 14 Deskpro 2000
models. 1 4 Deskpro 4000 models, and six Deskpro 6(XX) models, by any-
where from five to 19 per cent. It also reduced the prices on six of its
Armada 1500 notebooks, three Armada 41(H) models, and five Armada
7700 models, by three to 15 percent. See hup^/Avww.compaq.ca.
Symantec posts cure for Excel viruses
(NB) — Symantec Corp. has posted detection and cure software for a
new class of Microsoft Excel spreadsheet virus. Researchers at the
Symantec Antivirus Research Center (SARC) said earlier reports that
the virus affccLs only French-language versions of Excel were incorrect.
Carey Nachenberg. chief researcher at SARC. said his crew has
shown the new virus, discovered in France, works on English-language
versions of Excel too. Dubbed the “XF/Paix.A" virus, it plants itself in
an Office 95 or Office 97 Excel spreadsheet and changes the name to
"Enfin la Paix" or, roughly, “Peace at Last."
The delected virus works only on PCs. not on Mac versions of
Excel, researches said.
Nachenberg said the virus is so benign it appears to have been
released a.s a proof-of-concepi exercise. Now that it is proved, he
added, le.ss benign viruses in this new cla-ss could appear quickly.
What din'eremiaies this virus from other Excel macro viruses is
the language it uses, Nachenberg explained. Current Excel versions
actually use two macro languages, the primary one based on Visual
Basic and an older, legacy language from Excel 4.0 and before.
Technical details on the virus and the Norton Aniivirus/Norlon
Utilities versions of the bug cure are available at hltp://www,syman-
tec.eom/avcenicr. The cure is available as an automatic update for every
shipping version of the firm's anti-virus utility, the researchers said. M
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1 ccwmag I
March 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 59
THE PUNDIT
The Power Of
Search Engines
And Demos
by Craeiiie Bennett
H Like ihe Olympic torch
that must be kept burning,
your sales have to be kept
alive by keeping your eyes
on trends and developing
strategies that maximize
your strengths and those
of your associates.
I'll describe some of the techniques I
use to more el'ftciently solve customer sup-
port i.ssues and keep an eye on emerging
technologies that could end up a-S profitable
product lines.
The Internet
One of the many valuable aspects of the
Iniemci Is Ihe way that search tools like
AltaVista (luip://allavisla.digilal.coml allow
users to mine for data on the Web and Usenet.
As many CCW readers know. Usenet
newsgroups are often polluted with so much
"spam" and iirclevani junk mail that it is fair-
ly inefficient to browse the newsgroups
directly, even with a newsreader that fillers
out junk messages and allows you to follow
"threads” efUcientiy. My preferred method is
to use AltaVista and search for Ihe terms I am
looking for directly, using that search
engine’s Boolean operators — primarily, by
adding a plus sign before any word I want to
be included in my search criteria, and by
pulling quotes around any string of text I
want to preserve.
For example, the other day, I had a prob-
lem where my 3Com EtherLink XL
lO/lOObaseT network curd wa.s crashing
Windows y5 OSR2 with a "Windows protec-
tion error." After a little trial and error (the
problem went away when the card was
removed), 1 determined that it was related to
the network card, although 1 was peipiexed
because 1 was using the latest drivers, and the
card and drivers worked fine on a different
Windows 95 machine. Using another com-
puter. I accessed AltaVista, selected the
Usenet search option and typed:
+windows protection error” +3com
Then 1 clicked “Search.” A few seconds
later, the answer I needed popped up at the
lop of the list. As it turned out. 3Cum was
aware of this problem, which affects only
Windows OSR2, and only in some cases.
Best of all, the company had a new driver that
fixed the problem.
Now, obviously AltaVista isn’t the only
search engine out there that can find Ihe infor-
mation you need, so if you are happy with
(and get the results you want from) Excite.
Lycos. Yahoo, or whatever other search
engine you prefer — great! However, if you.
or your cmployec.s, are getting 1 2,000 match-
es when you search for something on the
‘Net. you might want to brush up on your
searching skills, perhaps by taking a night
school course, or minimally by reading the
Help pages that describe the advanced search
functions of any search engine. Better still,
train your employees on how to more effec-
tively deal with support-intensive customers
by using a search engine.
Tradeshow Rants
Speaking of tradeshows. I’d like to jump onto
this stack of soapboxes I have here and have a
good old-fashioned rant for a moment. At the
recent ComdexyPacRim tradeshow, I was
stunned by how many manufacturers' reps in
Canada were apparently unaware of the “talk
on the street" regarding recent, current or near-
future product announcements or technology
demonstrations by their parent companies.
Kudo$ To Demos
The Web is a great way to deliver ftial ver-
sions and “free” demos of a wide variety of
products. Now that’s how to draw a crowd and
gel people talking- Microsoft understands the
power of The Demo. It was showing off sev-
eral beta products, including Office 98 for
Macintosh and Windows 98 at Comdex.
Probably not coincidentally, Microsoft has
sent copies of neither product to this member
of the media. After all, we’d find out what
they’re really like.
I am reminded of the joke about what
happens when Bill Gates dies. St. Peter (the
heavenly equivalent of Steve Ballmer?) says,
"Bill, you’ve done some very good things,
but you’ve also done some very bad things. It
has. therefore, been decided that you have a
choice of going to Heaven or Hell.”
Bill asks to see each of these most final
dc.stinations before deciding. From Ihe
Pearly Gales, he sees a bunch of old people
floating around playing harps. "Hmmm,”
Bill says, “looks pretty boring." St. Peter
then whisks him straight to the entrance to
Hell, where Bill is amazed to sec scantily
clad women frolicking on a sandy beach,
partying, laughing and having way too much
fun to the .sounds of the Rolling Slones.
"Hey," says Bill, "that looks groat- I’ll
choose Hell."
“As you wish,” says St. Peter. Instandy,
Bill finds himself up to his neck in boiling
water. All around him, tortured souls are
screaming piteously. "This isn’t what 1
chose!” cries Bill Gates. “Yes it is,” replies St.
Peter, "...but that was the demo version.” IDJit
Graeme Bennell is ihe Senior Editor of The
Compuler Paper and a former computer
retailer. He can be reached at graeme@a75.ca-
60 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998
PEOPLE
a Compaq Canada
announces
new president
On Feb. 9. Compaq
Canada introduced a new
president and managing
director for the Canadian
PScrCIcerl division, a veteran com-
puter industry executive
who has spent the last 13 years in the Asia-
Pacific high tech market.
Peter Ciceri, 42. is a native of Victoria.
BC, and has worked in senior positions for a
number of technology firms, including Xerox.
Sperry/Univac, Unisys, Hewleii-Packard. UB
Networks, and most recentiy. Tandem Asia
Pacific Ltd.
At a press conference in Toronto. Ciceri
was reticent about details of the future impli-
cations of Compaq’s purchase of Digital on
Digital's Canadian operations. He stated that
Compaq was in a 'quiet period' immediately
following the announcement of the acquisi-
tion, and it might be some weeks before deci-
sions on matters such os the status of Digital’s
US$1 billion-a-year manufacturing operations
in Canada were announced. Ciceri was firm in
Slating his belief that both Tandem Computer
and Digital should be considered as having
been ‘reborn’ as pan of Compaq, and that his
first priority as hend of Compaq Canada
would be to reinforce Compaq CEO Eckhanl
Pfeiffer’s commitment to all of Digital's cus-
tomers and product lines.
Ciceri’s appointment coincided with the
return of Don Weatherson. Compaq Canada’s
acting president, to Weatherson 's former posi-
tion as a vice-president at Compaq’s Houston
head office. Compaq had been .searching for a
long-term replacement for former president
SiLsan Miller, who departed suddenly several
months ago. According to Weatherson,
"Peter’s experience, vision, keen judgment,
customer focus and concern for the peopie
aspects of our busines.s speaks volumes about
the superb prospects in store for Compaq
Canada, I’m reluming to my Houston duties
confident that Canada is in good hands."
Ciceri served notice that the integration
of Digital's Canadian operation into Compaq
would take a significant amount of his cner-
Merisel Canada head resigns
Thomas Reeves has resigned a.s president of
Merisel Canada Inc. At the lime, the company
said Reeves had accepted a new position in
the country, which would be made public in
subsequent weeks.
In a statement. Reeves said: “This has
been a very difficult decision for me. I believe
it is the best decision for me and my family. I
have been with Merisel for over 10 years and
I think that it is the right lime in my career for
a change.”
Reeves’ past Merisel positions included
managing director of Merisel U.K. and man-
aging director of Merisel
Europe.
Merisel Canada says
it is searching for a
replacement, and Merisel
Inc. president and COO
Robert Mcinerney will
oversee Canadian opera-
tions in the interim.
Merisel Inc., of El
Segundo, Calif., has promoted James E. Illson,
ihe company’s senior vice-president and chief
financial ofiicer, to the position of executive
vice-president and chief financial officer.
Prior to Joining Merisel in August 1996.
Hlson served as senior vice-president and chief
financial officer of Bristol Farm.s, a Southern
California .specialty grocery company.
Hitachi America announces
new company president
(NB) — Hitachi America Ltd. has appointed
Tomoharu Shimayama to the position of pres-
ident. He will succeed Tsuneo Tanaka, who
passed away on Jan. 20.
Shimayama, .S6, joined Hitachi in 1964.
He most recently served as general manager of
the Power Group in Tokyo. Japan, a position to
which he was appointed in June 1997. Before
that he was general manager of the International
Business Planning and Development Group
from 1995 to 1997. He is an economics gradu-
ate of Wakayama University.
The company also announced that
Shimayama and Yoshiro Kuwata. senior exec-
utive managing director of Hitachi Ltd., will be
elected to Hitachi America’s board of direc-
lon>. Kuwata will remain based in Tokyo, CM
W TIM EatwpriM
Rawaret Pliulig
tiltp://www.(lci.com/erp/
Contact: Two Rivers Tectinologiea
Call: 201-798-3311
Fax:201-798-3388
E-mail: inseniiiiar@aol.coin
httn://www.twofiveis-t5cti.coiii
■M2$-Z7 CmdP/Brtiqitai *98
San Francisco
hltp://www.comaex.com
AprtIMI CoapfltHtmCtprIig)
UltMMlFMi
Mississauga, Onl.
Call: (416) 925-4533.
Fax: (416)925-7701
E-mail: dcarte@complest.coni
«|M27-29— MfVT mLluMct
haemiMir
Conlaot: Fink ElephanI
http://www.pinkeleptiant.coni
Itar 1 l- 2 t CTIEXPO
Toionlo
hltp://www.newme(lia.ca
0etS-9 OMIAMnlTMtlhwad
Toronlo
905-338-9030
http7/www.inleidoc.ca
ntipi/Aww.ciims.ca
Aie there peisoimel changes
at your company?
E-rnalL cciiinnag@tcp.ca
Do /ovlmsn upcoming
event you’d tike loses
listed in CCWiCetendsr?
E-mall: CM&cp.ca
0rto.//iviwccw)7iag.e
March 1998 CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER 61
Major ISPs dominate, in Canada
Between 40 and 50 per cent of all Inteniel sub-
scribers in Canada gel their service from a
major Internet Service Provider (ISP) — a
national company with points of presence in
major meirupoliian cities, according to a report
called: "The Inlernel Sen'ice Provider Market
in Canada." from Evans Research Corp.
Most of the other subscribers get access
via an ISP with about five employees and less
than $5(X).000 in annual revenues, says Evans.
"Over 400 ISPs in Canada serve rough-
ly two million customers," says Charles
Whaley. ERC’s director, Internet studies, in a
statement. "The relative lack of mid-range
players is attributed to the fact that when an
ISP grows to 5.000 to 10,000 subscribers, it is
likely to become tbe target of a merger or take
over. Like many other businesses, one of the
keys to success is economies of scale, und the
ISP industry is no exception."
A notcable 66 per cent of ISP revenues
are derived from simple Iniemet access (at a
median rate of $286 per year, per subscriber),
with other revenues coming from Web site
hosting, page design services and consulting.
Evans says 91 per cent of customers
connect to their ISP by modem, with 82 per
cent using 33.6Kbps or slower technologies.
Looking to the future, ISPs expected
important technologies would include: asym-
metric digital .subscriber line (ADSL), cable
access, wireless access, enhanced switches
and routers, I Mbps modems from
Nortel/Rockwell and (ATM).
FACTORS IN CHOOSING AN ISP
I Price 1
Natignal roaming
|30%
We6 site hosting
|26%
^ 1
3
RESIDENTIAL AND HOME OFFICE CUSTOMERS
For residential and home office cus-
tomers, price was the leading factor in select-
ing an ISP. followed by national roaming,
Web site hosting, and recommendations from
friends and colleagues, said Evans. Interest-
ingly. 60 per cent reported they’d purchased
goods or services on the Web, and 35 per cent
said they did so at least once a month. CW
Evan.x Researvh Corp. of Toronto is at: (416)
62I-8SI4.
Reader Poll
Last Issue, we asked:
When YOUR customers are shopping for notebook computers,
which factor is of MOST importance?
You said:
26% Processing power. 59% Screen size and quality.
3% Light weight, 13% Long battery life.
This issue:
Netscape Cominunications Corp. announced Communicator 4,04
is now available to users free of charge. Moreover, the source code
for the next version of the software — Netscape Communicator
Developer Edition 5.0 — will be made available to the Internet
community.
Our question to you:
What impact will this have on Netscape’s eventual position in the
market-place? Which most closely reflects your view?
I I Netscape's strategy should help the company keep its position
a.s a solid leader in Internet browsers and Web technology.
I I This helps Netscape’s positioning against Microsoft’s free
Internet Explorer, but it remains to be seen what long-term
effect the move will have.
I I Netscape is in significant danger of losing its leading role in
— Web technology to Microsoft, regardless of this action.
Win FREE software!!
Vote in our Reader Foil!
A randomly drawn winner
will get a free copy of
Symantec’s CrashGuard
software.
Congratulations
to our January winner of the y
CanTux software package:
Steve ELscnreich, owner of
PC Bytes, in Cold Lake, Alta.^
Log into our Web si
http://www.ccwmag.com,
1: ccw@icp.ca, or send your responses, and comments.
( 604 ) 608-2686
CANADIAN COMPUTER WHOLESALER March 1998
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